The Town with No Name
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: What's better than learning from the mistakes of your parents? Living them. - Part of the Remember Me series.
1. Chapter 1

The city was much as it always was, equally as bustling and busy in parts as it was tranquil and quiet in others. At the guild hall, where the Master's youngest daughter was very diligently at cleaning up the many messes that sprang up throughout the day, none of the latter could be felt, but for the oldest, she knew nothing, but it.

Skipping out on the hall that day, Haven found a much better use of her time over with Gajeel's son Locke, where they enjoyed the rare stillness of the house. No one was around for once, other than the two of them, and Locke only played his music lacrima softly while they even more lightly with one another, in the darkness of his bedroom.

She'd only just gotten back from a solo job, Haven had, and was a bit shocked to find him still hanging around Magnolia rather than off on one of his own. He explained, at least a little bit, as they lounged in his bed together, about how he was really making some great breakthroughs, with his medical magic, and he talked so much about that, so often, that Haven mostly hoped he'd get it all out of him already. She didn't want to spend the entire day listening about it.

"We have to go, eventually, anyways," she told him as Locke only blinked down at her, resting on his side, head propped up in one hand. "To find Ravan."

He tried hard not to make a face. It didn't work.

"Why?"

"He's supposed to have my gift for me."

Locke only frowned, but said nothing on the subject. Not because he didn't have a lot to say. Because he did. Ravan giving his girlfriend a present was lame as fuck, but it was also her birthday and made sense, sure, but still. Haven would have rebuked anything he said on the subject though, so maybe it was for the best then that, as the pair on glared at one another, the sound of the front door of the house opening and closing was heard.

They didn't move because that would have been more suspect, anyways, suddenly jumping around and making all that noise. Besides, Locke's parents had some sense of privacy. His door was closed, so they wouldn't enter.

"Locke! Are you home?"

Especially his father.

"Yeah," he bellowed back to Gajeel as he and Haven only stayed put though their eyes were now at his bedroom door. They could hear the heavy thuds that only Black Steel could make as he went through the house. He was coming to the bedroom, but stopped at the door.

"Are you coming out with me trainin'? Or what?"

"Or what," Locke answered back and Gajeel growled at him for it, but was just as quickly stomping off to his own bedroom, no doubt to retrieve something or other, before right back out of the house.

"You're fucking loss!" he yelled back at him and that was that.

They were alone again.

Gajeel had to have known Haven was there. Of course he did. If he hadn't sensed her magic, he would have smelled her, but he seemed the most unconcerned with his son's current romance. Honestly, as the pair had edged into a year of it, he was hoping they'd hurry up and get into a big fight and just fucking break up. So Locke could finally really be done with the Dreyar girl.

It was bound to happen.

Until it did, he found it best to just ignore it at all costs.

Haven smiled up at Locke though, when his father left and he only leaned down to brush his lips against hers and, yeah, they had to leave soon, to go see Ravan, but not yet. Soon, but not yet.

The other teen was too busy for them, anyways, at the moment. He'd, once more, run into trouble with his motorcycle and was busy working on it as his brother sat by, offering assistance when need. It never seemed to be, but Kai offered it, regardless.

"What are you two doing? One a night day such as this? Nothing with your magic."

"Erza, we're kind of busy with something more important," Kai insisted as the woman returned from her afternoon training to find mechanical parts strewn all over her front lawn as Ravan tinkered, down on his knees, with something on his bike. "Way too busy for magic."

"One day you will regret it," she warned them, but she'd done it for so long by then, over half a decade, really, and even she sounded tired of it. Still, sweaty and gross from her training, she came over to stand above the boys. "At this point, Ravan, have you ever considered just rolling it to the junk yard?"

"Still not helping, Erza," the older of the two brothers grumbled.

"Oh, I have. Far too much." Turning, she started up for the house. "When you are finished out here, the two of you need to come in and assist in dinner preparations."

"Preparations?" Kai equal parts liked and feared the implication. "Just what are we having, Erza?"

But she was gone, off to shower off, and it was just the brothers again.

"I'm going out of town tomorrow," Kai mentioned eventually. "With Marin. Evergreen is going to some sort of specialty store opening and she's bringing us. And Ajax, maybe, but-"

"Shut up. I don't care."

"I have to go in for the morning shift though," his brother went on with a bit of a sigh. "So does Marin. We have to hurry through all the opening things. Then we gotta rush to the train station to meet Evergreen. It's a trade off though, I guess. It'll be fun to get out of Magnolia."

"If you're a loser who never leaves it," Ravan grumbled, annoyed that his brother wasn't bothering Erza now that she was home rather than continuing to do so to him. "I guess."

Navi was feeling the annoying little brother trope well that day. Her mother was out which meant she was the mother of the apartment and it was an especially dark nightmare that day. The twins were, above all else, rowdy and had been tussling when they finally woke up (other than Navi, the rest of the house seemed to only do that around noon, should her mother be out) which led to Lucky hitting his brother a bit too hard in the stomach and then Iggy was sobbing and hanging off Navi for most of the day, refusing to be around the others, even Happy, who took offense to this and stuck around Navi even more as Natsu, who'd only just returned form a job, moped around the house, not even finding the energy to go down to the hall that day. He only hung out with the equally as mopey Lucky, who was mad that his brother was being such a big baby.

"I was in the bathroom for, at most, five minutes," Navi found herself complaining when, after this, she returned to the kitchen to find it in a state of disarray. Natsu was sitting at the kitchen table, sighing down at his empty plate as the twins seemed to be in a competition on who could make the grosses thing in a bowl, adding things here and there to their each separate ones. She was half right, anyways. The rest of the competition was to see which Natsu would actually enjoy eating.

That one would be the loser.

"Just announce what you were doing in the bathroom, I guess, Navi," Happy snickered from where he stood on the counter, sucking on a fish while supervising the boys. "Five minutes, huh?"

"Happy," she complained, but just as quickly was shouting at Iggy who saw it fit to begin mixing his bowl with a spoon, vigerously, splashing all the contents all over the place.

"You guys," she griped at them all, "are making a huge mess. Mom will be-"

"Mom's not here," Lucky reminded her. "So it doesn't matter."

"Uh, yeah, it does, so-"

"Dad said we could," Iggy retorted and the man only sighed some, from where he was waiting for his meal.

"Yeah, Navi, what's the big deal, huh?" the slayer asked. "We'll clean it up."

But they wouldn't she knew they wouldn't. Because they never did. And she could leave it, yeah, for her mother to find, who would lose her shit over it and then make them actually clean up after themselves, but then Navi would feel badly, for making her already stressed out mother even more so and she'd just end up doing it. Because she always ended up doing it.

She didn't have to stay there and deal with it though. No, she had been sticking around that day, since the boys wanted her to, but if they were all going to act like jerks, then she had better things to do. Better places to be.

Like the guildhall.

It felt like a waste, when she first got there to find nothing of interest, but it would matter because she would be in the exact right place to run into the exactly wrong person.

But not right then. No. First, an accident had to occur back at Erza's house. There Ravan was, very deep in his mechanical troubles, when Haven and her stupid boyfriend showed up. He could sense them, as he always could with her, long before they approached as the air seemed to change ever so slightly when Raijin's oldest daughter was around. He hardly glanced up though, as they came to stand on the front lawn, Locke with his hands behind his head and Haven with hers on her hips.

"Well?"

"Well what?" he complained against the fabric of his dark red bandanna. "Haven?"

"Don't you have something for me?"

He was confused, but not for long.

Oh no.

Oh. No.

See, the thing was, Haven had been making such a big fucking deal about her seventeenth birthday, to everyone, honestly, but Ravan felt as if it was especially laid on thick around him. So he had to get her something. They'd never done that before, gotten one another gifts for their birthdays. Even as friends, like they were in current years. But Ravan wanted to, that year.

She'd be going out of town though, Haven warned him, the week of her actual birthday. She felt like she deserved it, to get away from Magnolia without a job being on the line and Ravan had a sinking feeling, whether she mentioned it or not, Locke was probably going to be involved in that somehow.

Which he didn't want to think about. At all.

So he offered to give her a gift a week early. And he'd planned on it. Honest. But...then his motorcycle got in the way. Twice over the past week he'd had to go and buy an expensive new part and, well, yeah, Erza was right, it was junk, but it was his. From his unwilling Master.

It wasn't like he didn't have jewels though, to get her something. He did. But he'd procrastinated to the last week and now it was the last moment, it seemed, and he'd just gotten so distracted. That was all. With his bike. Who could think about a dumb birthday when you had your bike on your mind?

Haven, apparently, who was giving him such a dirty look. He only rubbed his greasy hands on his jeans, Ravan did, as he tried to think of something to say.

"You forgot."

"Did not."

Locke only shrugged though, as the pair continued to stare at one another. He was actually glad with this development. It meant they could get out of there even faster.

"Then where is it?" Haven asked before, narrowing her eyes, changing it to, "What is it?"

"It's… I have to get it."

"Uh-huh."

"I do."

"Sure."

"I'm telling you, Haven-"

"He doesn't have anything for you, so can we just go? Please?" Locke's arms fell so that he could shrug. "It's okay to forget things, you know, Ravan."

"Shut up."

"You shut up."

"You-"

"If you don't have anything for me," Haven kept right up and ugh, they were so annoying, "then you might as well just-"

"I'll have it tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"That's what I said."

"You forgot."

"Why don't you show up tomorrow?" he challenged right back. "And see then?"

"Whatever." Looking up at Locke, she only asked, "Didn't you need to go to the market?"

"My mom gave me a list of stuff, this morning, that I had to-"

"You're such a loser."

"How is that being a loser? It's stuff for dinner. Do you not want to eat dinner?"

Ravan feigned getting back to his motorcycle as the pair went off, bickering as always. It was only once they were long gone that he rolled his still useless bike into the backyard, mind turning as he went along.

Great. Just fucking great. They were going to the damn market, on top of everything else, but who knew when? Who knew for how long? What if they caught him there, quickly trying to buy her something?

"I did plan to get her something," he griped at Kai when he explained his dilemma to the other boy. "But I just-"

"Forgot."

"No."

"Why are you so concerned with it?" Erza was tired of the conversation, clearly. She was trying very hard to prepare dinner with the aid of Kai. She had enough handicaps. Distraction was not on the menu. "Ravan? I hardly remember such things. Dates. They are meaningless."

"You always remember my birthday," Kai told her.

"There are very few, special dates," she corrected because it was true enough. "In my yearly calendar. That is all."

"Well, I guess that means that Haven's birthday is one of your special ones then? Ravan?" Kai snickered at him and wow, was he the one being teased for once?

Ravan was too annoyed with himself to even notice.

"I do think it is nice that you and the Dreyar girl are such good friends," Erza offered to her student as he came over to the stove. He'd been chopping vegetables for her and, just watching as she only took them so she could slide them into the bubbling pot on the stove, he had the same blank stare on his face as she spoke. "I recall a time when I worried you would never have any."

Was Erza teasing him now too? Frowning, Ravan only went back to the table as he pulled the bandanna that hung around his neck up, over his mouth.

"You guys," he grumbled against it, "aren't helping."

"Long are the days, I suppose," the swordswoman went on, "that you would much rather slice into the Dreyar girl that do something nice for her. And yet, here we are. Have years passed so quickly? Well, here we are then."

"Erza's sentimental," Kai continued to snicker as he continued on with his very important dinner duty. At the moment, it was standing over at the sink, scrubbing at potatoes. Out of the way. "But yeah, Ravan. How come you gotta get Haven anything anyways? And if you gotta, can't you just get something simple and easy? Like… Oh, hey, do you think if we went out and caught her family a bunch of fish for dinner that-"

"Stop," his brother ordered, "talking."

"A good gift," Erza decided to bring back some clarity to the situation, "comes from the heart."

"Yeah." Kai couldn't help it. Ravan and Haven's friendship always bugged him for some reason, but the platter of teasing he was being served up because of it made it so much better. "The heart, Ravan."

"I do not know what your brother implies-"

"I think," Kai continued to snicker, "you do, Erza."

"-but," the woman went on, "on such short notice, Ravan, I implore you to think deeply about Haven and her interests. There you will find the perfect gift."

"Hey, how do you think Locke'll feel?" Kai just wasn't going to let up. Not with Erza there to keep Ravan from pummeling him. "About you giving his girlfriend a gift from the heart?"

"It is nothing to be embarrassed about," Erza remarked, eyes still on the pot she was stirring, "Ravan. Kai. Are your gifts to Marin not from the heart? Are mine to you not? I have heart for my friends and guild members just as I have a romantic interest."

"You can just say Jellal," Ravan grumbled against his bandanna.

She could, sure. But she was lost in her lecture by then, far too gone to think of the man's name, even.

"The idea that relationships, in their ultimate state, should conclude with a romantic entailment is antiquated and wrong," the woman was going on. "Why is it that we assume that a friendship cannot have the same fulfilling qualities of a romantic entanglement? Have you ever considered that? Ravan?"

"No," he told her. "Because I don't know what you're talking about."

Most of her best quandaries were wasted on the typically apathetic boys.

"I'm gonna tell Marin," Kai carried right on, "that you're giving her sister a gift from the heart. And then she'll tell Haven and then Haven well- Hey!"

Ravan had had enough. Erza was too lost in herself though to glance over at the boys as Ravan refused to release his brother from a super painful choke hold. She did eventually tell the boys to go wash up for the meal and, well, Ravan had to release the by then crying Kai for that, but food was food.

Kai was all pissy at him though, after the meal, and Ravan took off for the guildhall alone. Which was fine. Kai had to get down early the next morning anyways, to go open up and then head out with his friend. She was there, actually, at the hall when Ravan arrived, but very busy tending bar. Must mean the Master wasn't around.

Ravan didn't have time to focus on her though that day. No. Erza told him to think of something, from the heart, for Haven. And though he didn't like the way she said it, she wasn't wholly wrong. If he was going to get something that was worth waiting the whole extra day, then he had to make sure that it was good. Or else she'd accuse him, once more, of forgetting.

Which, fine, yeah, he did, but whatever.

Haven wasn't around though, probably still out with Locke, and that was great because he just needed a drink, Ravan did, and then he could-

"Navi."

She tried hard not to look concerned as the other teen stood ominously before her table, but it was difficult.

"Ravan," she greeted back as he just stood there, staring at her, like the creep he was. "Hi."

He had a beer in hand, having already been over to the bar, but didn't move to drink it. How could he, anyways, with the cloth over his mouth.

"It's Haven's birthday next week," he said from behind it and Navi only nodded slightly.

She was good at that. Remembering things like that.

"Yeah, I was gonna get her-"

"I need to get her something."

"W-Well, I guess you do. If you want to. It's not like she'd reject a gift, I guess, but-"

"Today." He reached up with his free hand to pull down the cloth so he could finally take a sip of his drink. He sat down there, across from her, as he did this and Navi only stared up at him with uncertainty. "Tonight."

She'd been at the hall for a few hours at that point and was actually eating dinner at the moment. She'd go home soon. Why hadn't she gone home sooner?

"W-Well," she began, always one to at least try and be helpful (even to people she mostly wanted to get away from), "do you have any ideas? Or-"

"I can't go to the market."

"Then where were you thinking of getting something from?"

He only shrugged and she clicked her tongue and they were rarely alone together. Or around one another anymore. Haven and Locke still felt a need to at least spend some time with the girl as she slowly began distancing herself, but Ravan felt no draw to Navi at all. He'd once, in fact, felt the exact opposite. Now though, he mostly saw her as every other person in the guild.

Just there.

The hate that he held in his heart for the members of Fairy Tail had dwindled over the years to next to nothing. Short of Locke, who he had his own person gripes with, the boy, no, man, he was of age by that point, had problem with most people around the hall. They were just that. People. He didn't hate them, he didn't like them; they just existed.

Navi was one of those people in those days. Kind of useless, honestly, but hung around anyways, aimless and lost. Still, she knew Haven just as well as if, in a different kind of way, and she was the exact person who could help him.

Taking in a deep breath though, the girl didn't feel much like helping. How could she? When he seemed to have no idea what he even wanted?

"I guess," she said slowly, "that for Haven, if you needed to get something on such short notice… Well, I don't know, Ravan. I mean, what does Haven even do anymore? She just goes on jobs and trains. Maybe some spellbook or something? She could probably get all she'd want of those from Locke though, so-"

"Shut up." He was done with her then as he stood to his feet. "I know now."

"You could say thank you," Navi muttered simply as he walked away, but not loud enough for him to hear. Ravan's creep factor had mostly only ever manifested in minor ways, but she just didn't know him well enough to not have the misfortune of him trying to follow her home or something else nefarious. Which would suck more for him, honestly, considering she had the Salamander back at home, but whatever. "Freak."

But Ravan couldn't hear Navi anymore. Not as he went over to the request board to glance over it. Of course. Why hadn't he thought of it before? A job. One for just the two of them. A super intricate one. But not too long because she wanted to be back for her birthday. Yes. Surely, there was one of those up on the board. It's what they both liked to do, after all. Take jobs.

All the jobs up on the board though were super lame. And basic. And not at all something that he could force her to wait around for. Frowning, he took his beer with him over to the bar.

"Marin."

"Hmmm?" She had her head down, wiping at a spot at the bar, but glanced up when he came to stand before it. "Did you need something else? Ravan?"

"The jobs on the board suck."

"W-Well-"

"Don't you and Kai usually put up new ones? Are there new ones? How does it work?"

She sighed some, Marin did, as she saw her father come through the guildhall doors. Her Aunt Lisanna, who was definitely not shirking her responsibilities off on the girl, no way, took note as well and was rushing to get back by the bar as Marin from behind it.

"I guess," she told Ravan as she easily took his hand and started to drag him away, "I could go work on that now. You can come too, if you want."

She took him to one of the rooms in the back of the hall. No the Master's office, but rather another, tinier, less personal one. The waitstaff's.

"Here." Marin went over to a stack of fliers that sat on top of a filing cabinet before going to sit down at the desk. "If you just give me a minute, I can see if there's something more interesting in here."

He'd never seen this side of guild maintenance, Ravan hadn't, and just stood there, beer in hand, watching as the youngest Dreyar girl began rifling through the stack, separating them.

"Mom classifies them," the girl was going on. "As S-Class, SS-Class, or just regular. See? There's are the literal, mailed in requests. She marks the corner up here, on each one, with a classification, I take it, transcribe it onto professional, flier paper, so it all looks more uniform, and then separate them into rank. See? We're a bit behind right now, because there's just so many. Kai's supposed to help me, but-"

"Kai's a dumbass."

Marin made a face, but still only shrugged some.

Taking a longer swig that time, Ravan took to staring down at the requests as she quickly went through them. Most went, of course, in the regular category, which is probably what caused it to happen. The mistake. Marin was separating the rough, sent in copies so she could go back later and transcribe them. She would have caught it, when she went back to transcribe. Her mistake. But Ravan wasn't giong to give her that chance.

As she sat what was clearly marked S-Class in the regular pile, he jumped on it. Not even reading it.

"Can I take a job?" he was asking as he reached over to grab it, being certain that his palm covered the marking her mother had put in the corner denoting it's proper classification. "Before you, uh, write it on a real flier paper? Or whatever?"

"I mean, I guess. No one does because no one ever comes back here, but-"

"It's the one in Incidio Forest," Ravan said, quickly pulling that name from the letter. "Can you file me and your sister for that job?"

"Y-Yeah, I guess I can. Are you leaving right now?"

"In the morning. Can you tell your sister to meet me at the train station? Earliest train out." He quickly pocketed the paper before she had a chance to question him. "Thanks. Marin."

"Of course, Ravan."

The Master was waiting for him, Laxus was, as he left the tiny room where the man could tell his daughter was inside. Just glaring as he stood out there, in the hall. It was bad enough when Ravan hung around his older daughter. He definitely didn't like him around Marin.

But Ravan only greeted his master with something of a bow which was ignored by the man who only snorted. Just as quickly though, he was rushing back to the bar to close out his tab and head home.

Soon enough, he'd be having an epic adventure with his friend. You needed your rest, before that.

Navi wasn't going to get any rest though, that night, as she arrived home to find that the guys had done little more that day than what they were doing when she left.

"How do you guys make so many messes? And I thought you said that you were going to clean up?"

"Don't worry, Navi." Happy paused his very busy time piling all the blankets in the house in the living room, where he and the twins decided, with couch cushions and everyone's pillows, they were going to try and figure out just what the most comfortable mattress in the world felt like. If they couldn't build it, then it didn't exist. "We will clean up. And look, Lucy isn't even- And Lucy's coming in behind you."

"Hi, Mom!"

Both twins shot up from underneath the piles of blankets.

"You're home," they cheered, rushing to greet her.

Lucy was glad to see them too. And Navi was home. And Happy. And she could see Natsu there, on the couch. While the living room was a disaster, it mostly just need to be tidied up. She wasn't panicking. Yet. Navi knew it was coming. Because she was going to go into the kitchen and see-

"I cannot believe," Lucy loudly griped at them all, "that you would think it was fine to leave the kitchen like this."

"I don't see how you don't," Natsu grumbled as she made them all get down there to scrub away at the kitchen floor as she and Navi gathered up all the trash they'd somehow accumulated in the short few hours the girl was at the guild. "Seems exactly like somethin' we'd do."

"We would've cleaned it up," Lucky insisted though his mother only frowned at him. "Honest."

"We just got busy," Iggy was quick to add.

"I probably wasn't going to." Happy wasn't afraid of being honest. "Lucy."

"Yeah, I know, cat."

But Navi didn't see it the way her mother did. As a nuisance, but nothing serious. Her mother was used to it. She might even like it. Having the guys screw up around the house, so that she could rush in and fix the problem with them. It was the reverse of how it was out on jobs for them.

Her daughter didn't enjoy this side of things. The constant back and forth. It was fun, when she was little, like her brothers were now, because she was always paired up on the devious side, with her father. Not anymore. Not now that she had such a strong sense of, you know, knowing it was wrong to fucking destroy the apartment just for shits and giggles. She used to think the reason she liked her father so much, when she was a kid, was because he and her were so alike. But it wasn't true. She was much closer to being her mother. But the constant looking after the man had long grown old for her.

"It's nothin' to get upset about, Navi," Natsu assured her with a grin as, after Lucy found they honesty had emptied out their meager fridge in their gross food competition, the woman stormed off, cleaning she was going to bed. Which was hard to do with no pillows or blankets, but Lucy disappeared anyways, into the bedroom, and didn't come back out. The man could tell, as always, that his wife's attitude was shifting over to his daughter's and he couldn't deal with it, when they were both pissy at him all at once. "We'll get it all clean up, at least, by midnight."

"Yeah, Navi." Happy had a job now, to get the place back in tiptop order so that Lucy wasn't upset (he only liked to edge her close to upset; not topple her right over) and was very diligent with his scrubbing. "Three in the morning at the latest."

Which sounded great to the twins. They were kinda bummed their mom was so upset too, but at the same time, it was becoming sort of a game, the cleaning up was, as their father told them he'd buy ice cream tomorrow for whoever did the best job.

Joke was on them. As the judge, he'd definitely choose himself.

"What else do you gotta do, Navi?" Natsu asked and he didn't mean it, how she took it, but he still only shrugged some. "It's not like you go on jobs or nothing anyways. Nothing to get up for tomorrow for any of us."

"Except," Lucky reminded, "the best cleaner."

Except.

Still, it was sometime after midnight before they all fell into their beds and Happy had taken to sleeping with the twins more than Navi, which she preferred as, alone in her room, she didn't have his snores to keep her up. No, that night it was something else that bothered her. Kept her up.

But nothing kept Haven up, who slept with ease. Marin told her that night, when she and Locke arrived at the bar to drink and carry on after his mother's dinner, to meet Ravan before sunrise the next morning, at the train station. That must mean her gift would be waiting there.

Anticipation didn't keep the girl up though. Oh, no. It lulled her right off, where she could only dream of what great, grand thing she could expect the next morning.

"A job?" she complained when she found Ravan there, waiting, with it in hand. Locke was there too, which was annoying. Ravan tried not to let it show how much it bothered him and only tugged his bandanna over his mouth the second he saw the other guy. "I can get a job on my own, Ravan."

"Not this one."

"What do you mean?"

They were standing alone, he and her were, as Locke, at Haven's direction, hung back. It was actually a bit chilly that morning out and he was kind of hating that he'd even gotten up for that. A job. He was very annoyed as he bounced around, hands in his pockets, wishing he'd just stayed asleep.

"Look." Pulling it from his pocket, he showed it off to the girl who seemed rather unimpressed. "I snagged it before it even got tacked up."

"So?"

"So," he said slowly before gesturing to the top where, in her mother's pretty lettering, a giant S laid, "it wasn't officially S-Class yet."

"You… Ravan." She snatched it from him then with a heavy frown. "What did you do? Huh?"

"Nothing. I just asked for a job and was given one by your sister."

"You're going to get her in trouble."

"By who, Haven? Your parents?" He snorted. "Your dad doesn't even punish you guys. She's fine."

"But-"

"As a none S-Class member," the guy started, "I'm not allowed to take a job off the S-Class board. This wasn't tacked up there. It wasn't tacked up anywhere. It-"

"Does Marin know?"

"Nope." He was grinning, she could just tell, from behind his bandanna. "No one does. We can just go have fun on this job and not get in any trouble at all. What's to worry about?"

Locke, unfortunately, Ravan recalled as Haven called him over then. She didn't like to him though, showing off the S-Class marking and Ravan could only glare.

"You're going to get in trouble," he told Ravan who only glared.

"What do you care? Huh?" Ravan challenged the other guy right back. "It's not like you're going."

"Of course he's going," Haven interceded and ugh, was going, wasn't he? "Aren't you, Locke?"

They were both looking at him then and, given that there was no way that he gonna tell on them, but also not going to let Haven leave on such a dangerous mission on her own, yeah, he was fucking going.

"No." Ravan was absolute. "He can't. He-"

"Why do you wanna go alone so bad? Huh?" Locke asked back and bleh.

It was as Ravan was glaring off though that he noticed her, rushing right towards them.

"Navi," he whispered, causing Haven and Locke to turn.

"What are you doing here?" the blonde asked for the boys as the pink haired girl merely stood before her. "Navi?"

"I'm coming with you guys."

Ravan couldn't help it. He turned from them all then, rubbing his palms deep into his eye sockets. Why were they all so fucking annoying?

"How'd you know about it?" Locke asked, still suspicious about the whole thing.

"Well, Ravan said that was getting Haven a job for her birthday and then I heard Marin tell Haven to meet him here, at this time, so-"

"You guys hang out?" That time, Locke was questioning more out of surprise.

"No," both Ravan and Navi answered, not even glancing at one another.

But it made sense to Haven that, if they were, they'd have nothing else to talk about other than her.

Duh.

"Okay," Haven decided, smiling finally as she glanced down at the job in her hands. "You can come, I guess, Navi. And Locke. Ravan. We should all go, anyways. On our first S-Class job alone. Together."

"Our what?" Navi was hung up on that, but Locke noticed something else and as Haven and Ravan rushed off to get tickets for the train, he hung back for a moment, reaching out to snatch at the garment that hung from his friend's neck.

"Where," Locke asked, "did you get your father's scarf? Won't he be kinda pissy? You taking off with it?"

Navi only snatched the bit out of the guy's hand though, continuing on, after their friends. It had come about that morning when, after laying awake most of the night, she'd suddenly decided upon joining Ravan and Haven (and Locke, apparently) on their excursion. As she packed a knapsack and slung it over her shoulders, something held her up. She went and peeked in on her brothers and Happy before in at her parents, finding them all snoozing. Like they should be. Like she should be. But…

She just knew he'd awaken, her father would, as she walked slowly across the floor of her parent's bedroom, but he didn't. Only laid there, snores rivaling Happy's, as she carefully moved to snatch the special scarf his father had given him, all those years ago, that he never went anywhere without. She didn't know what possessed her, but she snatched it up, only wrapping it up around her own neck once she was far from the apartment.

Locke sighed though, kicking at the ground as the others went off. He knew what he should do. Stop them. They were making a mistake. All of them. He couldn't have known what would change, after they climbed onto that train. How things, irredeemably, would never be the same. Haven was ushering in adulthood the same way she did most things; far too fast, soon, and in the worst way possible. But like with everything, he would only go with her, always right there, hardly questioning and not putting a stop to things.

"Where are we even going?" Navi yawned once they all tumbled into their seats, her and Ravan beside one another and Locke and Haven across from them, the latter much closer than the former. "And what's that about S-Class?"

"It's a long story," Ravan grumbled with a glare out the window. Great. Just great. Now he was stuck with both Locke and Navi. Could the day get any worse?

"Incidio Forest," Haven breathed as she glanced over the letter once more though, eyes alight, she looked up at Navi and grinned. "But just stopping there. That's where the client is. But not the job."

"Then where is it?"

"I dunno."

"What do you mean?" She was leaning across the little space between them so she could stare down at the flier as well. "Where are we actually going?"

"To a town," Haven breathed as even Ravan felt his eyes drifting back to her, "with no name."

* * *

**Ten chapters. More heavy presence of the adults in this one. We're setting the wheels in motion, guys. **


	2. Chapter 2

"I set it right here, where I always do, Luce."

"Well, clearly not," she groaned against her pillow as she refused to let her husband force her up. Not so early. Not after getting in so late. Not after her job. He always got sleep, when he returned. She made sure of it. Usually, he'd return the favor, but clearly, he was a bit worked up. "You must have left it in the living room or something."

"I couldn't have."

"I mean, if it's not in the bed," she griped, which he'd more than rifled through, "and not under it and nowhere around, then yeah, Natsu, it has to-"

"Lucky! Iggy!" He was going to have to develop a task force and quickly. "Whoever finds my scarf gets double the ice cream of the best cleaner!"

That was one way to get the kids up.

They tore up the house, him, the boys, and Happy did. Searched every nook and cranny. Eventually, even though she was exhausted, Lucy got up as well. It was clear her husband was becoming rather concerned and, well, she didn't want that.

"If this is a joke, boys," she told her sons at one point, but they both seemed to have no idea idea what she was talking about, only shaking their heads and staring at her with their wide, bright eyes. "It's not funny."

She believed them though at their insistence that no, they hadn't done it. They were known for their mischief (mostly Lucky), but there was honor among thieves. And their father was definitely with them, not against them.

"Come on, Plue," Natsu tried once, after Lucy summoned the little white dog to help out (and mostly to just spend time with him), "don't ya think you can smell it? Be more useful than Hap."

"That's so rude," Happy complained from where he, honestly, had kind of given up on looking and was mostly just eating his breakfast. "Don't do it, Plue."

"Don't crowd him, guys," Lucy sighed as the twins and her husband did just that. Not that the celestial spirit minded. No. Plus only titled his head back, as if in thought. Then, shakily, he turned once one way. Turned next the other. Shook his but a little. Then sat back on it, on the cool tile floor, shivering some more.

"I see," Natsu sighed. "So it's not here."

"How-" Lucy started, but Lucky only cut her off.

"Why don't we ask Navi?" he questioned. Mostly because he wanted his sister to get up already. She was missing out on all the excitement. "I'll go wake her!"

"No." And Lucy reached out to grab the boy's arm, stopping him. "She's probably tired of dealing with you guys."

"What do you mean? This is serious business." Natsu pounded a fist into his open palm. "Thanks for your help, Plue, but it's time to get serious."

"What do you mean?" Iggy asked, but he was rushing over to where they kept a stash of lollipops for just such occasions. If Plue helped out, he definitely deserved one. If Plue showed up, honestly, he deserved one. He was a treasure, for sure. As he passed it off to the grateful (and still shaking) spirit, the pink haired twin tilted his head back to stare up at his father. "Dad?"

"Someone clearly broke in and stole it. Right from under my nose. The nerve." He growled. "I bet it was that bastard Gray. He's always had his eye on it! Why, the other week, he even said I should wash it. Wash it. You hear that, Luce?"

"Unfortunately, yeah."

"Wash it. Why? So I could dry it and he could steal it?" Flames appearing over his fist, Natsu growled, "He's gonna pay for this!"

The boys cheered and Happy added out an, "Aye, sir!" which told Lucy all she needed about the situation on hand.

"Okay, well, while you go bother the one guy that definitely didn't steal your scarf, I'll actually find it. Sound good?"

"Sounds great," Natsu agreed and she only buried her face in a palm. It was due to this gesture though that Lucky finally escaped the kitchen.

"I'll get Navi," he informed his parents.

"I told you to let your sister-"

"Navi!" He knocked, once, Lucky did, because Navi got really pissy about that kind of stuff. But before there was even a chance of an answer form the other side, he was throwing open the door and rushing to jump right in her bed. Only… "Navi?"

It was rather annoying to find her bed empty, honestly. Still, he was just as quickly snatching up the note she left on her desk for them, rushing right back to his parents with it.

"Navi's gone," he told his father which was a bit disappointing, honestly, because he really would have liked to show her how great he was, still, all these years later, at kicking Gray's ass. "Here."

"Awh!" Natsu glared down at the note. "Navi left on a job."

"When?" Lucy asked with a frown, but he only shrugged, shoving the note off on his wife.

"That sucks," he sighed. "She'll miss the fight."

"Navi likes Gray, anyways," Happy decided as he snagged one of Plue's suckers for himself. "So she probably wouldn't have enjoyed it much."

"That's true."

"Uh, Natsu?" Lucy called as he, the boys, and Exceed seemed ready to head out for said rumble. Plue still just sat though, listening to them all with great interest. "You don't think..."

"He doesn't," Happy assured her. "Just in general."

"What? Luce? Don't try and talk me out of it. This offense isn't excusable."

"I just… Well, the only person who went to bed, here, last night, and then left would be…"

She was trying to lead him there, to the conclusion, but he only scratched at his head.

"What are you talking about?"

"Everyone in this room, right this second, was here last night. When the scarf was here. But there's one person who was here who isn't in this room, right now. Do you see what I'm saying?"

"I think I do." He growled too, again. "That bastard Gray stole Navi too!"

"What nerve." Happy even huffed. "Who does he think he is? We need Navi. Who will clean my knapsack for me when I leave a fish in there too long?"

"You," Lucy told him simply. "It should always be you, whether Navi's here or not."

Meh.

"What if Navi took the scarf?" Iggy asked then, softly and Natsu only shook his head.

"No. She was definitely kidnapped by Gray. Taking two of the most important things to me. What a lowdown-"

"What is he gonna do with her?" Lucky asked with a frown. "Dad?"

"I dunno." He hadn't thought of that. "Probably make her do boring stuff. Like housework."

"I think she likes doing that," Happy interceded. They were getting dangerously close to knocking off all Navi's chores and, as the next in line, he felt like they'd fall on his shoulders. His gross knapsack stained shoulders. No thanks. "A lot."

"Gray didn't...take Navi. Ew, Natsu. What's wrong with you?"

"Ew? What's wrong with you? Huh? What are you thinking about then, Lucy?" Natsu glared right back.

"You're the one- This is so stupid. Gray didn't take her or your dumb scarf." She was growing more annoyed with them. All of them.

"There's something here that's both dumb and stupid," Happy retorted with a frown. "But it's not our theories."

"No, it's just the two of you in general."

"Natsu, Lucy's being mean!"

But the man was only frowning then, taking the situation a bit more seriously.

"Why would Navi take my scarf from me, Luce? Huh? She didn't mention it in the note."

"She hardly mentioned anything in the note," the woman pointed out as she glanced back down at it. "She just said that she didn't want to wake us and she'd be back when the jobs done. But did she mention taking a job to you guys? I didn't hear about it, when I came in."

"She did go to the guild yesterday," Happy offered, helpful in that moment it seemed. "Maybe she picked one up then."

"But didn't say anything about it?"

"Maybe she left 'cause she was mad at us." Iggy kicked at the ground as he thought of it. "We did make a big mess."

"But look!" Natsu gestured around. "We cleaned it up."

"After making her help us," Happy pointed out, but softly. He was a bit torn. No one supported Navi more than him, but you tip the scales too much and, well, he might actually have to start pulling his own weight around the house. Gross. "She wasn't too happy about that."

"Navi likes helping," Natsu insisted, but Lucy only sighed.

"I think," she told her husband gently, "that you might be without your scarf for a bit."

He didn't believe it though. Mostly because the idea of Gray stealing it felt much more real to the man. But his scent was nowhere around and, when he went down to the guildhall that morning, it was to find the man nowhere around.

If Gray had taken it, he definitely would be there to gloat about it.

What a bastard.

"Hey," Natsu said loudly as he approached the bar. Marin was standing behind it, mostly counting down the thirty minutes before her mother would finally show up, relieving her of her duties so that she and Kai could race down to the train station. "Marin. Have you seen Navi?"

"Hmmm?" The teen only frowned as the man approached the bar, shaking her head slightly. "N-Not today, no. This morning. But yesterday-"

"Did she mention somethin' about a job? Or take one? Do you know?"

"Yeah." Happy was floating over to land on the bar. "Did she?"

The twins had been dismayed to be left behind with their mother, but that was before she told them she'd make them pancakes for breakfast. Then it was very easy to send the slayer and his Exceed on their merry way alone.

"No," Marin answered honestly. It was so early that only a few people seemed to be about. The Salamander was a surprise, for sure, right after opening. "But Ravan did take one, yesterday, and was gonna be leaving this morning. Early."

"Ravan, huh?" Natsu repeated. He knew the boy far less than the other kids in the hall. Mainly because his daughter didn't seem to want anything to do with him. "I doubt Navi would be going out on one with him."

"W-Well," Marin thought, "it was a special thing. For Haven's birthday."

"Satan ages?" Happy snickered.

"Nope," they heard as, finally, Mirajane showed up. Marin was so thrilled that at the sight of her mother her entire face lit up. Finally. She could head out. "I don't. Why do you ask?"

"Mira." Natsu didn't even have a chance to thank Marin as the girl only rushed off to find Kai and tell him to come on. Which was even better. The slayer could have a better conversation with her mother anyways. "Have you seen Navi?"

"No." She even shrugged as she came over to take her daughter's place. "Not recently, really. Last night, she was around though, I guess, but I haven't spoken with her in-"

"Do you know where Haven is?"

"On a job with Locke and Ravan, I think. Or at least that's what Marin said-"

"She is!" The girl was rushing passed again, Kai with her now, as they sped out of the hall. Still, the girl held up as her friend ran ahead, just to look at Natsu. "She probably went with them. Haven's really big on her birthday. She was around, anyways, when Ravan was here and when Haven was here, later. So she probably heard about it from one of them and decided to go."

He could only nod because, yeah, maybe. It was as great a guess as any. As he muttered a thanks, Marin only grinned widely, called out her goodbyes to her mother, and then rushed after Kai, knowing if he strayed too far, he might get lost.

"Is something going on, Natsu?" Mirajane asked as he reached up instinctively to adjust his scarf. But his hand was only met with air. "Is Navi in trouble or something?"

"I dunno," he whispered with a frown. "She's never been before."

Not with him, at least. With her mother though…

"Well," Mirajane giggled. "You know how kids are. They're getting so old now, they don't even think to tell us of where they're going. I don't blame Haven too much. She's grown now, practically. And Navi will be too, soon. You have to let go sometime, you know?"

He could only nod though. Still, he told her simply, "I'm missin' my scarf, by the way."

"Oh no."

"If you see it around- Well, if you see that punk Gray, tell him I want it back, okay? Mira?"

"Of course, Natsu."

But it would be a useless endeavor as, at the moment, the cloth was wrapped around another's neck as the train ride seemed endless. Haven fell asleep against Locke's shoulder while the oldest boy produced a journal from his backpack which he was reading from, mouthing parts of spells under his breath. Ravan was staring so hard out the window that Navi had to wonder why he'd even wanted to go on the job, if he was going to be so sour the whole time.

For her though, Navi, things were already starting to feel like a mistake. It had been impulsive, all of it, and tasted gross in her mind as she replayed it. She knew her father meant no offense with anything he ever did and it was silly to get angry at him because, short of being direct with him about what she was dealing with and going through, there would be no change. Ever. He didn't comprehend things that he wasn't actively seeking out. He loved her and she knew that, she understood that, but sometimes…

"I'm going to the dining cart."

Ravan was a bit of a jerk about it too, as he shoved up and passed them. Navi glared and Locke called out, "You could ask if anyone else want something," but it only got him flipped off in return.

"What's his problem?" Navi complained. "

"What's ever his problem?" But Locke had a feeling he knew. Ravan had seemed rather intent on going alone with Haven, which, fine, yeah, made sense. They were the ones that were friends (somehow). But there was no way Locke was letting Haven go off with him, on a bamboozled S-Class job, that he knew was going to end badly. He just knew it, Locke did. He wasn't sure how, but he was certain of it.

"Shuddup," Haven muttered from his shoulder and he didn't even glance down at her. Navi though was getting kind of nervous, as she always did, on long train rides. To put her mind at ease, she requested the job request, to finally read over it herself, fully, and Locke handed it over.

Her eyes scanned the words that Haven had previously paraphrased.

_To any who may help, I offer the gifts knowledge and absolute strength. If not brave of heart, need not apply. True adventurers are the only welcome. A town with no name appears simply to the select few in the fog soaked swamps of this region, a whisper I heard in my much younger years. I have searched long and hard for it over the course of my life and, now in my final days, wish only to be certain of it's existence. Please, if you believe yourself to be of pure enough heart to discover it, report to me immediately._

It wasn't a riddle, but gave very little away that would be of any use. Navi's eyes fell, anyways, mostly to the insignia at the top, in Mrs. Mirajane's pretty lettering. S. For S-Class. Something her mother wouldn't even be allowed to go on. And her she was with her friends, attempting to take it on all on her own.

"It's so scary."

She glanced up to find Locke's heavy, red eyes on her.

"I bet," he insisted softly, "that it's just S-Class because of the mystic of it. A town with no name? A swampy bog with a hidden place that only a select few can find? That's not something you'd want just anyone running off to tackle. That's all. Whoever wrote this spent years searching and came up with nothing. Ravan'll get bored, Haven will get annoyed, and we'll go back home unfulfilled. Then we can get lectured about taking the job, which we'll all pretend we thought was legitimate, and that'll be that. Nothing to get all worried about. Unless...that's not what you're looking so upset about?"

Navi looked away then, reaching up to tug at the scarf, as she said simply, "Let's just get there, Locke. Then we'll know what to expect."

"Yeah," he sighed, looking back down at his notebook. "We will."

Things were going much better on another train though, headed in the opposite direction and a much shorter distance. Evergreen wasn't sure how it occurred that she came to be the water of not only her niece, but also her niece's weird friend and her own even stranger nephew, but what could you do?

"Do you think that, Aunt Ever, that when we get there, maybe, we could go and look and see if, maybe, they had a toy shop or something, do you think, nearby?"

"I told you, Ajax, that if you came, you were to be seen, not heard."

His face fell some, the boy's did, but she only rolled her eyes as she added, "But yes, we can see. I guess. If we have time."

Marin and Kai both grinned at the thought. Ah. Kids. He wasn't like them. All grown up and sophisticated and stuff. Taking in their grins though, Ajax only took to staring right back at them.

"How come you don't get sick, do you think, Marin? When we're on a train?" he asked the girl though, by then, his face was pressed to the glass of the train window as he stared out in amazement at all the passing scenery. If Kai had been an energetic child, Ajax was him times ten. "If you're a dragon slayer, like Uncle Laxus and Lucky and Iggy's dad? Huh?"

"W-Well," she began slowly as she though. "Mr. Natsu told me once that, because I haven't tapped into my slayer powers enough yet, it doesn't affect me. Not yet. I'm just not strong enough."

"I think you're plenty strong," Ajax assured her and Kai, not to be out done, only nodded.

"Not being able to ride a train would suck, too," he was quick to add. "How do they even get anywhere?"

"With a lot of grit and determination," Evergreen informed the kids. She had, after all, spent many days traveling with Marin's father. Still, she grimaced as she said, "And many barf bags."

They arrived with little difficulty and Evergreen went over with Ajax, once more, what it meant to be on your best behavior. He nodded a long, but he nodded whether he heard or not to most things, so there was no way of knowing if he truly heard a single word the woman said until they were in the store. Kai and Marin only followed along behind, hand in hand, enjoying being away from the guild for once. They weren't working mages, but they were working laborers and, while it was all fun and games at times, hanging out at the guildhall together, cleaning out flowerbeds and serving drunks beers up at the hall was no walk in the park. Considering Kai didn't even really like walks in the park, it was pretty obvious where the distastes came in.

The store was as posh as Ever had informed them and super boring for Ajax, who mostly couldn't wait until they finally got to go to the toy store. It was the whole reason he came!

"Other than to play with Marin," he informed Kai as both boys walked around slowly, glancing at the mostly women's clothing with disinterest. Ever was trying something on, in the back, and Marin was offering opinions. Yuck. Kai only liked helping Erza pick outfits because most of hers was armor.

And armor was super manly.

At least that's what Elf insisted.

"Yeah," Kai sighed along with the younger boy. "Same."

Ajax had to pee though, eventually, and after loudly whining about it to the disgruntlement of the other patrons, Evergreen forced Marin to take him out of the shop to find somewhere to get that taken care of. But Kai had to stay behind because it was a new city and all and Marin couldn't be responsible for two people who had a tendency to run off and also get horribly lost. Could she? No.

So he stuck around, which is when it happened. Evergreen was making nice with some woman who thought at they were all her children and, though horribly offended, the woman still couldn't out right insult the other woman. So she simply explained.

"They're my niece and nephew," she said with a slight shrug. "And my niece's boyfriend."

And oh, wow, Kai had never really felt that before. The absolute pit in his stomach.

Is that what…

Wait.

She was clearly talking about him, but…

He wasn't Marin's boyfriend. Was he? No. How could he be? When...when…

It really soured the entire day for the boy. When Marin tried to hold his hand as they left, he only shifted it into his pocket and he felt bad about it, but Evergreen had really struck a vain in him. He hardly even enjoyed exploring the city or the toy store where Ajax enjoyed it enough for the both of them anyways. Lunch tasted odd and he couldn't help it as he sighed a bunch.

"What's wrong, Kai?" Marin asked him once with a frown, but he only shook his head. He couldn't say. For the first time in their entire friendship, he was at a loss of words for the girl.

It was as momentous as it was disheartening.

They would arrive home around the others, finally, reached the end of their train journey. They'd gotten out before, halfway, to switch trains, but to finally be able to run about and truly stretch their legs was something for which they were all grateful.

"Food," Locke moaned softly as they waited to be served, in town, stopping off for a meal before they made the long trek to the forest. It was all he could think about, personally, but Haven only ignored his desires (typical) and instead focused solely on her own.

"So," she began as the others looked on with varying degrees of disinterest, "how do you guys think we're gonna find the town?"

"We're not," Locke whispered from where his head lay on the table. "I bet it doesn't exist."

"Why do you bet that?" Navi asked.

"I dunno. Just a feeling."

"We don't know enough about anything right now," Ravan told Haven simply, "to guess about anything."

Still, she only tapped at the letter, which she sat on the table before them. "Don't you guys get it? Why aren't you excited? Ravan's set us all up for, like, definite S-Class status."

"Yeah, sure," Locke snorted. "Your dad's gonna really pick us now that we've left out on an S-Class job he'd have forbid us to go on. Keep dreaming."

"How will this even work?" Navi asked. "You filed the job with the guild, Ravan, but they'll just think we're on a normal job, anyways, so we don't get any credit for it."

"Or glory," Locke added.

"So-"

"You two," Ravan cut the pink haired girl off, "don't get anything anyways. This was going to be Haven and my job. You're just fucking it up by being here. So-"

"No fighting." Haven glared at them all equally. "They'll know it was S-Class because, if they're all too dumb to figure it out, I'll somehow let it slip-"

"Haven-"

"No, Locke, I'll be really coy about it."

He didn't believe her, but his desire for food was drowning out any good arguing skills.

"Do whatever you want," Ravan complained. "Who cares? Jobs aren't even fun, when this many people are one them."

"We could always just make it three," Locke muttered because it didn't matter how hungry he was; if Ravan left himself open like that, he was always going to go for it.

"If you guys aren't going to be serious-"

"What does it mean though?" Navi was back on the job, it seemed. "About the reward. Strength. Knowledge. How do you give someone those things? Do you think that it's a spell or-"

"No." Locke skewed his eyes shut. "It was a metaphor or whatever, I bet. Or symbolic. Something. Or maybe they'll give us some books and dumbbells. Who knows?"

"I bet it's a spell," Navi whispered again, anyways.

"Whatever it is," Ravan declared, "shouldn't matter to the two of you anyways. Tagalogs."

"You guys are ruining my birthday," Haven griped, but it wasn't really her birthday and, honestly, none of them cared too much if they were or weren't at that point.

They were testing her newfound patience though. Haven had never rightly learned to relax, not even around her friends, but she did find over the years that sharp would only result in sharp. Sometimes, she had to treat them like the little stupid annoying children they were. Like she would Ajax or something.

But that only went so far.

Before the trip was over, she was sure, they'd drag her right back into her old mood. Maybe before they even reached the client.

The night was just falling when they set out once more, planning to camp that night on the road. Navi found herself smelling her father's scarf frequently, finding it a bit comforting. Maybe Ravan's bandanna had it's own purpose. The one who hid behind it though was mostly still mopey and, allow Locke to lead alone for once as he and Navi consulted the map, Haven fell in step with the other guy instead.

They didn't speak though, as they walked along in the darkness. Only listened as Navi and Locke did, only slightly ahead of them and, if he ignored them, it was kind of how it ws supposed to be. He and Haven didn't have a lot to say to one another, or at least he usually didn't to her, and it would have been pretty cool, to be alone, but unable to get it at the moment, this was a nice substitute.

Beside a stream was where they settled and Locke only went to dunk his head in the water, as he always did, when it got too hot out. The funny part of it was lost though as, unlike when they were kids, he no longer had coarse hair atop his head to get all knotted up and gross. No. He'd begun shaving it, back before he started dating Haven, even. and it just wasn't the same. Most things from before then weren't.

Navi built them a fire and the kids all just kind of laid around. They were hardly worn out, given the majority of the day was spent sitting about as well, but there was a special kind of tired that was reserved for the conclusion of long travel. The kind that made Ravan pull his bandanna over his eyes, instead of his mouth, and just close his eyes super tightly, hoping that if he tried hard enough, he could imagine he were alone.

Nope.

He could hear Locke and Haven still, talking softly as they sat up beside the fire together. Navi was asleep though, or at least curled up on her sleeping bag, and hadn't said something in a long while.

As badly as he wanted to hate it though, because, oh, Ravan did, there was a certain comfort to this, a call from the past, and even though he felt so far removed from the kid he was, even, just a year prior, the lulling of sleep that the familiar scenario provided him was, at the very least, pleasant.

"I was gonna train today, you know, with my dad," Locke sighed to Haven as they sat up, instead, their comfort found in one another. "To make up for yesterday. I hope he's around, when I get back."

"Yeah, well, you're better off here, aren't you?" She felt so. She knew so. Tracing the lines on his palm without glancing at them, she said, "Don't you feel it? Locke?"

"The cold?"

She ignored him.

"This job," Haven insisted, "has a feel to it. To me. I-"

"You're just pumped about it being S-Class."

"Technically S-Class."

"Your father's gonna be on my ass about this."

He was about most things, in those days. Long gone were the days when Laxus regarded Locke as Haven's punching bag. Now he was something else. Still, better than Ravan though. That's what Laxus had to remind himself as he would grit his teeth, when his daughter and him would just get drunk up at his guildhall where, fine, they paid their dues all on their own and their own tabs and...and…

"No," Haven sighed as Locke closed his hand around hers when she laid it flat, giving up on tracing as her eyes fell across the clearing. "You're not the one he'll be upset with."

And she willed him to turn around, Ravan, to take note of her gaze, but he didn't. Asleep then, she decided and only shoved at Locke's shoulder before telling him to douse the fire.

"Let's go to sleep," she told more than requested and he followed along, regardless of the tone. An order was always an order. "We should get there before noon tomorrow, right? Isn't that what Navi said? After looking at the map? I wanna leave early."

Locke nodded with a yawn and, as he threw sand over the fire, Haven went to fall into her own sleeping bag. She didn't remember struggling to find slumber. Just the desire for it to come, as quickly as possible, so it could just as quickly pass. It had been a long time since she cared so much about a job. Been so excited.

She hoped he was wrong. Locke was. About it not existing. Whether it ever got back to her father or not, whether she solved the job or not, it didn't matter. The S-Class shit was exciting in it's own right, fine, but the adventure of it all…

"It's pretty cold out," Natsu sighed to Happy as they headed home that day. "Here. I bet it is for Navi too. Wherever she is."

"Aye," the Exceed agreed, sounding rather down about it. "I'm sorry she stole your scarf, Natsu."

This was now confirmed, or at least Gray having not been the thief was as they'd more than had it out with the guy, up there. Now though, all that awaited them was the long walk back to the apartment where the twins were no doubt asleep and Lucy would expect them to be quiet, probably, as not to wake them. Navi certainly would, if she were home, to scold them about it.

"It's okay, little buddy," he assured him. "I bet Navi had a good reason for it."

"She does have those a lot," Happy agreed. "More than us, anyways."

Natsu nodded. "It's cold out. Like I said. She knows how much it means to me, anyways. So I bet she's taking good care of it. I'd rather she had it, and wasn't cold, then not have it, and be cold."

"Why didn't she tell us she was going though?" Happy was most put out by that, honestly. Her taking from Natsu was annoying and he was definitely kinda mad at her about it, but he wasn't nearly as interested in the scarf as the slayer was. "Navi used to tell me everything! What if I had plans for us today? She could have asked. I'dda told her, anyways, if I was gonna go somewhere."

"It's like Mirajane said this morning," Natsu told him simply. "Navi's not a kid anymore. She doesn't have to do that sorta stuff. Tell us things. She can just do whatever she wants, I guess. Which sucks, yeah, but I think we're just supposed to hope she wants to."

"Aye." The Exceed was tired of flying though and only slowly drifted down until he was resting atop the man's pink locks. "We can ask her though, don't you think? When she comes home? About why she did it?"

"Conspiring with Gray somehow, I bet."

"We'll have to reach her, you know," Happy yawned. "Somehow. A break through. Get her back on our side."

"Shouldn't be hard. Who does Navi love more than me and you?"

"No one," Happy decided, but neither had too much conviction in their voices. When he went to bed alone, in the room they used to share, Happy didn't enjoy the extra space very much, but in case Navi got home, he wanted to be the first one to know.

"Gray," the slayer grumbled to his wife as he fell into bed with her, the woman still up, glancing over a novel, "doesn't have my scarf."

"Yeah, Natsu," she assured him as she reached over to pat at his shoulder. "I know."


	3. Chapter 3

Laxus was his typical disinterested self that morning as he sat at the kitchen table, his entire interest being devoted to his newspaper. He grunted when Mirajane pressed a kiss to his cheek, when she slid him a cup of coffee, and did the same when Marin came in to press a kiss there as well, though she offered him nothing more. Just sighed some as she took off for the guildhall. Then it was just Laxus and Mira again, the latter still over at the stove, getting his breakfast together.

The presence of his oldest daughter wasn't missed in the slightest as, honestly, she was hardly home to begin with in those days. Always gone. Off on jobs, she claimed, but Laxus had a feeling sometimes, it was just anything to be away from home. He tried hard not to take offense to this, but on some level, he did understand. He was completely free, by the time he was her age. He had no parents there to worry about his whereabouts and his grandfather had long given up on worrying about him.

It wasn't that way for Haven. He would never not worry about her. He would never not want to be sure that she was, at the very least, not in over her head out there. In the world. Being a wizard, a guild wizard, meant that you had no protections, no safeguards. You were the protection. You were the safeguards.

Haven was as safe as she could be, out there with Locke. And the other two too, fine, whatever. It was what she wanted to always be, a true working mage. It was his own fault, after all. He'd only trained her since birth to be into that kind of thing.

Still, when Mirajane came over with his pancakes and Laxus finally put down his newspaper, his eyes did fall easily to the chair that his daughter would always sit in, across from him, where they'd spent a good portion of her life just glaring at one another in stony silences. Now the chair held a box of something Mirajane had ordered, but never finished unboxing. She didn't even eat at home, his daughter didn't anymore. Just up at the hall or out somewhere in Magnolia.

She had the expenses for it. Not like she was, you know, actively paying towards anything. At all. Laxus tried to get fired up over that, sometimes, but knew if he pushed too hard, he'd end up with his daughter moving out and then what? Then he'd only see her at the hall and even then, maybe not. Maybe she'd avoid him. They already had a horrible relationship, truthfully. Once she was out of the house, then he was so afraid she'd be out of his life.

Really out of his life.

"You look snarly this morning," Mirajane said as she sat down in her own chair. "Dragon."

"Yeah, well," he spoke for the first time that morning. "I had a shit night sleeping last night."

"How come?"

"Dunno."

"I slept great."

She had been, but mostly because, with her daughter now around, she wasn't working nearly as many hours up at the hall.

The slayer snorted though in reply as he remarked, "Thanks, demon. It'll make me feel so much better. Knowing you slept well. Really takes the edge off."

"I'm glad."

"I'm being- Mira."

But she was grinning at him and yeah, the years had made things a bit rougher at times, but the man still was weak to it. To her.

They walked up to the hall together that morning, Mirajane going on and on about this or that while Laxus mostly wished he could still pull off the headphones 24/7 lifestyle. He couldn't. No. He was much too old to walk around blasting his ears with music just to avoid conversation.

Wasn't he?

Once they were there, anyways, Mira was off and busy and had little time for him. Which was for the best. The man only locked himself in his office for a few hours, dealing with paperwork, he grumbled to his wife, and he didn't want to be bothered.

"I think he's just taking a nap in there," Mira whispered to Marin who just giggled at the idea.

The day went much as it always did, in the hall. People came and went. Took jobs, returned from them. Ate and left. Drank and stayed. Mirajane was so lost in the typical hustle and bustle that she was a bit surprised when she glanced over at the request boards and found they were running down a bit.

"Marin," she asked as she passed her daughter with a tray of drinks. "Can you post some new jobs? Please?"

She was always quick to do as her mother asked and rushed off to get to it.

"We're out of S-Class," her daughter said with a bit of a shrug when, after fleshing out the regular board, she had hardly any new ones to tack up on the reserved.

"Really?" Mira frowned some when Marin came to inform her of this. She was passing the boards then and, glancing over them, she counted the ones up there. One. Two. Three. Four.

Four S-Class jobs.

"Did someone take the fifth one?"

"What?"

"The ones from this past week," Mira explained, "were all taken. When I classified them the other day though, I remember having at least five that were supposed to go up there. Did someone take it?"

"I dunno." Marin frowned as well. "When I transcribed them, there were…. Well, there's the one for the monster hunt, one from the capital, one from...some sort of boat related thing or something?"

"Right. Pirates," Mira agreed and they were both just standing there then, ticking the jobs off as they glanced over them up on the board. "Then one about some bandits on the coast."

"Yeah. They're all right there."

"But there was one more," Mira insisted. "Can you go check the stack? We need all the jobs up right now. Your father will be judging for it, soon, S-Class. We want S-Class members to be able to take their teammates out on jobs, if-"

"Mom, those are almost all the jobs though," Marin insisted. "That I transcribed, at least."

"But-"

"Where was the other job supposed to be?"

Mira thought hard. It had been a few days, after all, since she'd gone through the stacks.

"Incidio Forest."

Marin almost choked.

"W-What?"

"That's it," Mira agreed. "Did you get that one? Maybe you forgot it."

"I didn't forget it. But Mom, that wasn't S-Class."

"What do you mean? Of course it was." And Mira was continuing on then, past the board. "Did you read it?"

"N-No, but-"

"How did you not read it, Marin? If you wrote it out?"

"Because I didn't."

"What?"

She was conflicted then, heavily, the youngest Dreyar girl was. She didn't want to get in trouble (because if what she thought happened had, then she was definitely negligent, at the very least, if not somewhat complicit), but at the same time…

"Ravan was in the room with me," Marin whispered softly as she looked down at the ground. "With the requests. I was… I was going through them, with him, because he wanted a special one, for Haven's birthday and he snatched one up and I didn't look at it too closely, I guess, and… He told me to file him for the job for Incidio, so I did. But I didn't know it was S-Class! And I bet he didn't either. So-"

"Laxus!" Mirajane was turning quickly then, rushing across the bar floor, back to his office. He wasn't pleased to see her, either, when she came into his office. It startled him, even, as he definitely wasn't snoozing or anything with his music in his ears, no, definitely not, but his wife didn't even tease him. Didn't call him out on it.

"What's wrong?" he asked as, finally, he took note of the look in her eyes. Panic, almost. "Mirajane?"

"Before you get upset-"

"What is it? What happened?"

"The kids mgiht be out on an S-Class job."

"Whose kids?" When she didn't answer, he only glared. "Whose kids, Mira? Mirajane? Whose-"

"It was a mistake."

Her look of concern had nothing on the darkness that fell over the man's face then as a blood vessel threatened to pop as, slamming a fist down onto his desk, Laxus could think of nothing, but that slimy little freak.

"Ravan," he growled, but Mirajane was rushing over, saying stuff to him, but it didn't matter. The man only shrugged off her hands as he stood. "When I get ahold of them-"

"Laxus-"

"Where are they? Huh? They're all out. All of them. Fuck with my guild-"

"Calm down."

It was impossible. He was seething then. Could hardly see straight.

"Dragneel! Redfox!" He was screaming too, as he came back into the bar area, his wife right behind him. But they weren't who he really wanted. He spot her there then, at a table, eating breakfast with Kai. "_Erza_."

"Laxus." Freed was rushing up to him then. "What-"

He only shoved passed the man, as he did with his daughter when she tried to come speak with him as well. Erza rose to her feet, taking in the grim manner in which the slayer was behaving.

"What?" she asked as he only continued to glare as he approached. "Has something occurred? I do not-"

"Your son," he growled, "stole an S-Class job and has taken off with the others. You better hope he has a damn good explanation, when I track them down, because if he doesn't-"

"What are you talking about?" Natsu had come over, excited by the man's anger and the way he yelled his name. He'd thought they were gonna have some sort of brawl. This, clearly, was not the case. "Who went out on an S-Class job?"

"It sounds like Navi." Happy fluttered over as well now that he knew the Thunder God wasn't just kicking ass and taking names (well, screaming family ones, anyways). "But Navi wouldn't do that."

Laxus ignored the pair though as he continued to glare at Erza. She was taken aback by his accusations.

"There was a mistake," Marin was quick to add as she came over. Kai, who'd been trying to enjoy his breakfast (it was difficult with all those...thoughts swirling around inside of him), but was quick to nod.

"There had to have been," he agreed. "Ravan didn't steal anything!"

Turning from her Master for a moment, Erza thought for a second before summoning a sword.

"I," she told him while gripping it tightly, "will go and hunt them down. If it is your order, Master."

"Hunt them- Erza." Happy wasn't pleased with that. "You don't mean that. You heard Navi. It was an accident!"

"Even if it wasn't," Natsu was quickly adding because, honestly, there was a good chance it wasn't, "is it really that big of a deal? Huh? Who doesn't steal an S-Class job from time to time."

"A what?"

Lucy had been out at the pool, watching the twins and Ajax play, but had come rushing over at all the yelling.

"Navi went off with those bad influences and they've led her astray." Happy could see it no other way. "And now Erza's going to hunt them down. That's what you get, I guess, when you steal a scarf."

"No." And Lucy looked around at all of them then. "Navi didn't go with them. There. That has to be it. She wouldn't knowingly go on a job that she wasn't supposed to."

"But if she did," Natsu continued to insist, "is it really that big of a deal?"

"Is it your command? Master?" Erza glanced over her shoulder at him. "I will go and retrieve the chil… Them. I will go and get them. If that is what you want."

But he wasn't looking at her then though. No. Gajeel had the misfortune of coming into the guild at that exact moment and yeah, Laxus was pissed at Ravan, but for some reason, his anger over Locke was _far more_.

It had pissed Laxus the fuck off, the first time he realized that the boy and his daughter were… Ooh, man, it fucking pissed him off. But Mirajane cautioned Laxus to getting too angry. It could be worse, she reminded and he agreed (Ravan was definitely the worse), but over everything Locke had been the one person he thought would keep Haven on the straight and narrow. Away from trouble. But nope. Here he was, leading Haven, the person he was supposed to be in a relationship with, was supposed to be looking out for, into danger. Into trouble.

Fucking hell.

He could trust Locke, his ass.

Gajeel was feeling all good for some reason or other as he walked in, bragging to his stupid cat about something and Laxus just couldn't help it. He ran right over to the other guy and just about hit him. Well, he tried to hit him, but Gajeel caught the man's punch with his forearm.

"Alright!" Natsu's concern over Navi was fleeing fast as, quickly, flames spouted all about him. "I've been waiting for this for a long time!"

"What is your problem?" Gajeel growled as neither dropped their arms, just applied more pressure as they glared at one another. "Huh?"

"Your stupid son," Laxus growled, "drug my daughter off on a stole quest and you're asking me what my problem is?"

"I don't know shit about that," Gajeel barked back. And he didn't. At all. But he knew immediately whose side he was on; his son's, always. Even if Locke didn't often see it. "But I know that my boy didn't drag that girl nowhere. It's always been her fucking with him. Not the other way-"

"Boy? Boy?" Laxus' arm lit up, finally, in electricity, causing Gajeel to stagger back a few steps and drop his arm finally. "Your boy is a grown ass man that's screwing around with my daughter. And you wanna come in here and-"

"I didn't come in here to do anything! You're the one picking a fight with me!"

"What kind," Lily finally spoke up from down on the ground, "of job did they take off on? Master?"

"An S-Class one." Happy came flying over. "With Ravan and Navi. And-"

"Laxus." Mirajane came to roughly grab his arm and pull him back some from the other man. "You are the Master. Stop it. Now."

It was true enough. He was the typically moody, illusive Master of the place. And Fairy Tail had only grown in the more than a decade since he'd come into power. The lack of it crumbling all to the ground greatly contributed to that. There were many faces among those gathered that day in the hall that he wouldn't even recognize, if they were out on the street. The old days had long passed them all by. Him tussling around with Gajeel was a big out.

"It is as I said, Master, if it is your command." Erza was coming over then, swords still in hand. "I will go and retrieve them. All four of them. And bring them back to you however you'd like."

"Are you gonna kill them?" Kai was rushing over to her. "You can't do that, Erza...can you?"

"I mean," she corrected then, for his benefit, "I shall either bring them back as guild members or, if you wish, remove their mark from them there, Laxus. Master. If you wish."

"The fuck you are." Gajeel wasn't done, it seemed. "Locke's my son. If anyone's gonna ring his head, it's gonna be me. Do whatever you want with the others, but-"

"I'll go." Lucy was rare to speak up in such situations (the others typically were better suited for those kinds of things), but with her daughter out there… "Erza. We can go together."

"That is fine with me." But her eyes were still only on Laxus. "If the Master wants it."

But nobody was going to get at his daughter before him. Nobody.

"Boss, we'll go with ya!" Bickslow was nearby at a table with Evergreen and Elfman. They all three stood, but then Evergreen recalled that she, you know, didn't really care about any of those kids (Haven was, at best, an annoyance) and took her seat once more. "Bring the kids home."

"A job for a real man," Elfman agreed.

"I will go as well." Freed had come over to stand at the man's side as well, though his eyes were hard as he glared heavily at Gajeel in place of his idol. "And, if you like, I will vanquish _any_ who dare challenge your authority, Laxus."

"I don't give a shit who goes and who does what." He was heading out then, it appeared, right out the door. "I'm going to get my kid."

So were the others.

It was more than a bit of a spectacle, really. Most of Fairy Tail's top wizards all piling on a train headed for at least a half days travel. The majority all sick. Lucy was there to sympathize with Natsu, but the others were given none of that. Gajeel suffered in silence with Pantherlily while Laxus only skewed his eyes shut as the Thunder Legion and Elfman ignored him.

"Do you think Navi's okay?" Happy asked Lucy as he sat in her lap. It would be a lengthy journey, so he wasn't giving Natsu any slack that day about his motion sickness.

"Well, yeah, I'm sure, Happy" The woman even reached down to pat at his head. "I mean, I guess we really don't know what the job is."

And they didn't. Since Marin gave Ravan the only copy, they were without any information other than where the confirmation went. Short of that, no one seemed really certain what the job had entailed. Mira remembered it faintly, but only told them something about searching the forest for a lost city.

"I hope she is," the Exceed offered.

"We all hope they are." Still, she only found her eyes falling over to where Erza sat, nearby, but not with them. She'd assumed the woman would, she usually did, but Erza seemed lost in her own thought.

"Maybe she's worried," Happy offered to Lucy when he noticed her stare. "About Ravan."

No. Lucy had a feeling that wasn't it. At all.

Erza had a strong sense for right and wrong. Especially when it had to do with her guild. The rules of Fiore were important to her, fine, but it wasn'tt her job to uphold them. She had no interest in them. The laws and decrees of Fairy Tail, however, were held higher, even, than her own person morals. The idea of someone pledging a vow to the establishment that she held so high, only with the intent of not going through with it, well…

Not only to neglect the rules, but to purposely break them…

It would annoy her, had she heard the others were doing it. The slayer children. But Ravan? And it sounded as if he were the ringleader of it. That was very upsetting to her. It wasn't quite as cut and dry as Laxus had made it out before, referring to the teen as her son, but it was pretty close. She'd never say it and Ravan wouldn't either, but she did think of he and Kai as...well...the closest thing that she had to children. He was at the very least her extremely loyal student.

To know that her student, her son, had betrayed all the morals she tried to instill in him…

She hoped Ravan was bad off on his job. She truly did. Because him being near death might be the only thing keeping her from putting him there herself, once she got found him.

At the moment, he kind of wished he was with her, anyways, rather than where he was, trudging along through the sticky weather that had somehow developed over a day's travel as they trekked through the dark, thick forest, following the directions handed down to them by a kind man in the nearby town.

"Come to see the professor, eh?" the shopkeeper only took to writing for them, on a sheet of paper, a list of directions, as well as a short diagram of sorts. A map. "His little cabin is very deep in the woods, you understand. Blink and you'll miss it. You kids coming to help him out with his quest, eh? Well, good luck."

Even with the map and something of a path to follow along, it wasn't simple, in anyway, to get to their destination. It didn't help that Ravan was all sour about the others company. They were all kind of nervous though, honestly, the closer they got. Each had been on an S-Class job before, many, honestly, but never without, you know, a legitimate S-Class wizard.

"It's just a rank," Haven snorted, once, in response to something Navi said. "A title. Whether I have it or not, I know I'm definitely at that level. Do you guys not feel that way? Then that's on you."

But even she seemed hesitant as they, finally, arrived before the little cabin, but only for a second. Just as quickly, she was rushing to be the first to it's door. It was Locke though, reaching over her head, that knocked his knuckles loudly against he solid wooden door.

"Hello?" Locke called out when this resulted in not so much as a peep from inside. "Are you in there? Sir? Professor?"

There was the sound of some stumbling then, from inside, as well as a frail voice calling out, "Yes, yes. I'm coming."

Some more stumbling and they all exchanged glances, but soon enough, the door was slowly being opened to reveal a slight man to match his voice. His dark skin was stretched so tightly over his bones that they all seemed to stick out and his glasses lenses so thick that they just about could topple him over. Surely, they weighed much more than him.

"You're not my nurse."

"We're not," Haven agreed before holding the letter out to him. "We're from Fairy Tail. We're here to-"

"Come in, come in, then.." He was turning then, back into his home. This was done with arms outstretched, seeming more to tumble from random object in the room to random object. From bookcases to desks to furniture, the tiny place was stuffed to the brim with many things for him to pinball around.

"Locke, help him," Haven complained, but the much younger man was already moving to do so, the older gentleman thanking him with a bit of a laugh.

"To my chair, if you please," he snickered as Locke led him to the closest one. There were many to choose from. The place was a maze of many things, ranging from books, papers, and maps adoring all the walls. There was a bed in a far corner, but even it housed things atop it with just enough space cleared off for the man to slip into it, no doubt, at night.

Assuming he didn't just snooze in one of his many chairs.

The couch was also a spot of much comfort.

"Thank you, young man," he grinned up at Locke. "Now, you kids said you were from Fairy Tail, was it?"

"The job." The others were kind of crowded, there in the equally as crowded entrance, but Haven stepped forwards again as Navi's eyes only stared in amazement at the sight before them. Imagine how long it would take to clean and organize this place. Almost made the mess in the apartment the other day look childish.

Which it was, but for different reasons.

"You requested help," Haven went on, "to find a town? With no name? You are the person who made that request, aren't you?"

"Oh, yes, yes, that I am." He even nodded. "I almost forgot. You see, my memory fails me at times, but I can still hear it, in my head. I can't picture it, not any longer, the person who told me of it, the place I was, when...when…when I first heard of it. A town with no name. No location. Just a whisper, a rumored existence. I'd spent my whole life as a treasure hunter, visiting the most remote of places, deserted and forgotten. But never one so remote, so reclusive, so...so…so mysterious."

"How long ago was that?" Navi asked softly. He didn't even glance her way, the old man didn't. Just continued to stare up at the ceiling, eyes fixed on a certain spot.

"When I was a much younger man. I traveled all over Fiore for it. Eventually, I pinpointed the location to this very forest. But that was ten years ago. All that wasted time and it's somewhere in here. So close. But in this past decade, I only got less and less mobile until, well, I'm more trapped now, here, the closest I've ever been to my dream and yet still shut out of it."

"So it's a physical place?" Locke sounded suspect though. "Or magical? Do you think? Ir-"

"I don't know, boy," the man sighed heavily. "I just don't know."

"Tell us what you do know," Haven insisted. "Tell us-"

"I've only met a handful of people who've actually claimed to have visited it," he cut her off and Haven usually didn't like that, but she only stared in interest at the man before her. "Others only know of relatives or friends who might have.. But they all say the same thing. It appears in a mist, at first. Just on the edge of your vision. You see the flames, at first, in the distance. They denote the gates, you understand? Two of them. A torch. You must take them, children, if you are lucky enough to see them. Carry them with you. Else you might get lost the second you step through them, the gates. The visibility, it's no better inside. Just thick, dense fog,…

"But through it, if you have the flames there to guide you, you can just make it out. The fabled city. I've heard it's description many times, from many different people. Some claim it to be acient, others modner. It appears how you need it to appear, I suppose. Perhaps. Magic, yes, like you said before. Certainly. Or something more?"

He paused then, abruptly, to cough heavily into his hand. As Locke moved, as if uncertain, to do something for the man, he only pointed at Ravan though, the old man did, before gesturing to a nearby desk where a glass filled with water sat.

Rushing right over to hand it off to the man, Ravan almost tripped over a stack of books, but managed to hand it off all the same.

"Do you live here alone?" Navi asked as, after a glass of water, the man seemed to settle out some.

"Hmmm?"

"I said," she repeated, louder then, "do you live here alone? Or-"

"I have a nurse," he assured the girl. "She comes by with my meals each day around noon. Has it already passed? Is it getting close?"

"Close," Haven told him with a bit of a frown. "But you were saying, about the town-"

"It sounds silly to me, sometimes," he sighed with a shake of his head. "It's existence. But so many different people, all over a kingdom, they couldn't all make up the same story? Could they? What is it then, if not real? My entire life… Since I was in my thirties, I've devoted everything to it. Slowly, I could focus on nothing else. Just this."

"Why do you think we can find it?" Ravan, finally, found his own question. "I mean, no offense, but if you've wasted all this time on it and still can't find it, then why do you think some random wizards can help you?"

As he got a look from the others, the old man only smiled at the teen.

"It's as you said," he assured him. "What I lack is the one thing you have."

"Magic?" Haven asked to which she received a nod.

"I was so...invested. So drive. So...greedy, to the idea that someone else might visit the town again. Without me. Before me. That if I let what I knew of it, what I'd collected of it, that it would no longer be mine. That it would belong to the world. But I wanted it to be mine. All mine. Only mine. So I refused to share many details, even, among my colleagues. People I studied with in my youth." He laughed then, softly, and looked down at his lap. "I have no power, children. I have no magic. All I ever had was my knowledge. My smarts. My hunger for more of it. I abandoned them, all the other hunters I knew. Would travel, hardly wrote, as I eventually became consumed with only this. I'd take a job here or there, get hired on by friends when I ran low on jewels, but eventually I found that I had few of those. My name was no longer circulated well. My credentials no longer held merit. Just a fool chasing a dream. One I was too scared to even whisper. Ten years ago, I knew it, that I would die out here. Alone. When I moved into this place and began to collect and organize all my maps and journals and things, I knew that this would be my tomb. But I always thought...before that happened… If you can, children, I beg of you to discover it. The town with no name. Should you bring me back proof of it...I can go in peace."

This hung heavy over the all of them and, for a long few seconds there, no one spoke. Only looked away. Finally though, Locke found his voice.

"You mentioned, in your request, a reward-"

"Did I?"

"Of strength and knowledge," Haven added, softly, still unable to look at the pitiful old fellow. "Absolute."

"Oh, yes, yes, I recall now." He hummed deeply. "It is not something I have on me, no, but something that hinges on completion. Of the job? It exists only in whispers as well, but I have heard many tell me that the city is a maze. Regardless of how it presents itself to you. And, should you be able to figure it out, then there is a prize, yes? At the end? Or at least I can assume. All I wish for, truly, is proof. Proof that the town with no name is real. If you can provide me with that, but not find any treasures along the way, I will happily supply you with what's left of my riches, if you so wish." And that time, when he laughed, it almost sounded sorrowful. "It is not as if I will require them much longer, I suppose."

He supplied them, the man did, with many maps and a compass, as well as getting into a healthy discussion with Locke about some books that laid about.

"Take it," he said, at one point, when the teen seemed surprised to find a specific volume among a stack. "I can hardly see anything at all, anymore."

"Even with those glasses?" Navi asked and she made a face, after her question, but the man only nodded.

"Even with."

He didn't see them to the door, but rather had Ravan and Locke assist him over to the bed.

"Forgive me, children," he coughed as Navi only refilled his water glass in the tiny kitchen at the back of the cabin. "I merely am...not feeling so well, is all. It's nearly noon, you said?"

"It is," Haven assured him. "Professor."

"Then be off." He even waved at them. "I will retire, I think, for awhile. Until my nurse arrives. But do return, of course, when you are successful in your journey. If not as well, I suppose, but..."

"We'll be back," Locke assured him with a bright grin as Navi presented him with his glass of water. "You can bet on it."

After being sure he had everything he might need, the teens filed one by one out of the tiny cabin and even walked, just a bit, away from it, before stopping in unspoken unison to address one another.

"So," Locke began, "how long do we have to wait?"

"What do you mean?" Navi asked, but he merely shrugged.

"The old man's crazy," he said simply. "I mean, come on; it all sounded like it, didn't it? He's obsessed over one thing, his entire life, and now he wants one last ditch effort to prove it's real. It's not."

"How can you be so sure?" Haven crossed her arms. "Huh?"

"Don't tell me you believe him." He almost groaned, Locke did. "Haven-"

"He was telling the truth."

"His version of it, fine, but come on." Locke shook his head. "I don't wanna hurt his feelings either, guys, but let's just, like, wait a few days, come back, tell him some dumb story about the town, take no reward, and head back home before we get in trouble. This is stupid and you know it."

He was speaking, mostly, to Haven, and Navi was nodding along because, yeah, what he said made sense, but Ravan wasn't too easy to forget as from behind his bandanna, he had a far simpler solution.

"Then leave," he ordered. "Locke. Navi. If you don't want to do the job, go. It's not your job anyways. It's ours."

Locke glared and Navi kicked at the ground, but Haven was quick to nod.

"If you don't want to be here," she said simply as, picking her knapsack back up, she slung it over her shoulder, "then don't be. But I'm completing this job. With or without any of you."

"Haven-"

"Go home, Locke. To get out of trouble. What are you? A baby? Or a man?" Over her shoulder, she only said, "Come on, Ravan," but it hardly had to even be spoken as he was following after her.

"You guys don't even know where you're going," Locke pointed out. "Haven. I'm serious; this woods is super dense. And large. Did you even consult the map? Haven-"

"I'm on a job right now," she volleyed back to him. "And if you're not on it, then I can't stop to talk."

He only groaned as, reluctantly, he headed after them and, well, yeah, Navi had felt some independence when she ditched out on her family before, but that was long gone. She wasn't getting left in the spooky woods all alone.

Ravan only glared though, over his shoulder at them as they rushed to catch up. Haven said nothing though, just handed one of the main maps the man had given them over to Navi, like always.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Locke still insisted. "Because we could probably get back home right now and it not even be that big of a-"

"I'm," she insisted, "positive."

Which meant the rest of them were too. Or at least that they were going along with it. Haven had long given up on caring for their opinions before making her rulings anyhow.


	4. Chapter 4

They all felt gross, the teens did, as they trudged along through the forest. The maps did little to guide them, but rather seemed to be more of a fail-safe for if they were horribly lost, how to get back out. Honestly though, even Navi seemed to have no idea how to even get back to the man's cabin and they were lost. In the sticky, gross swampy dense forest, they were at a complete loss.

"I mean," Locke grumbled as his good-natured attitude was weaning in the more bug bites he got, "it's not like we're looking for something that may or may not exist and even if it does, may or may not even be around here and, on top of everything else, could just decide not to present itself to us. Who would ever think that we'd end up all turned around? When we have such a clear objective."

"Would you shut up?" This wasn't the first time that the other guy had made a similar complaint and Ravan was sick of it. "This is the job that we signed up for, idiot. One that you weren't even invited on. So-"

"Knock it off. Both of you." Haven was in the lead once more, hardly even glancing over her shoulder at the guys and Navi. Ever. She was at just as much of a loss as to what they should do as they were. But she couldn't let it show, so she had to walk ahead, lead the way, into the unknown. She hoped that some idea would come to her eventually, but until then, she refused to admit that there was a problem. "You're wasting extra energy by bickering. Next thing you know, you'll wanna take another break. Because you're tired. Are you ready to be S-Class or not?"

Or not.

Navi only sighed, taking care to keep Natsu's long scarf from getting snagged on the many tree branches and shrubs that they trekked through. Though her arms were cut up by sharp thorns and other sharp things the surroundings hid, she was more concerned with making sure the cloth had no rips or tears. It seemed rather durable, given all it had survived in the past, but still. The last thing she wanted was to return it to her father torn.

Haven's direction and determination did little to improve morale. Ravan was equally as annoyed by the entire thing, honestly. He'd snagged them a cool S-Class job and, instead of fighting some humongous monster, they were lost in the woods. And with his moral enemy at that. What a shit request. They'd probably have even had a better time, or at least a more thrilling one, on a normal job. If this was the cosmic punishment he was getting for tricking poor Marin, fine. It was harsh enough that he certainly wasn't going to be doing it again.

The only thing worse in that moment than the animosity jumping between Ravan and Locke though was the one the latter had for his girlfriend. He was known for just going along with her and all her stupid ideas, but it would be dark soon and the deeper they found themselves in the forest, the more concerned about how they would be getting out. He tried, more than once, to broach this, but he'd been shut down each time with the same retort she'd given earlier. If he didn't like what was going on, then he was welcome to leave.

"You can even," Haven said once as she tossed the compass at his head, "take this. And the map."

This was the last straw for Locke who picked it up and threw it was equal force back at her. Haven dodged it, but it didn't matter. They were going to fight now, stranded in a muddy forest or not.

"What," Haven growled at him as she came to glare up at him, "is your problem, Locke?"

"My problem is that we're lost, Haven. In a forest that I've yet to even a leftover campsite at. There's no people here. Just that kooky old man who, admit it, is just crazy. He said it himself. He dedicated his entire life to a lie and now, before he dies, wants us to prove the lie." Locke shook his head. "I'm sorry to the guy, but that's just not going to happen. You can't prove the existence of something that doesn't exist. Obviously."

"Obviously," Ravan interjected from where he stood because he knew if he just gave a few more shoves, Locke would hightail it home, hopefully with Navi, and then he could have the trip he'd planned, "it does. You heard him. All those stories and maps and what? Huh? You think that was just some big ruse?"

"I think it was someone who was a little too obsessed with a myth," Locke retorted with a shake of his head. "It happens. Like I said before, we can just go back with some bullshit, he'll buy it, and then we can-"

"Well, we can't even do that." Navi usually didn't intervene in the others arguments, but as she stood there, waiting for them to get through with it so they could continue on. Or not. She was good with packing it in too. Her rebellion was, as it typically was, very short lived. "We're lost, remember?"

"We're not lost!" Haven couldn't hold her tongue for long. Especially when Navi found hers. It was so annoying, even all those years later, for the other girl to think she had a say in anything. She didn't. Not even things that she was directly involved in.

"Are you fucking serious?" Locke asked and she went back to glaring at him instead.

"Yeah, Locke, I am." Her arms were crossed then and, huffing, she said, "The point is to be lost, right?"

"Which," Navi whispered softly, "we are."

"No."

"Haven-"

"The city is lost," she kept up. "Which means we have to be lost too to find it. Because we don't know where it is. If we did, it wouldn't be a job. So yeah, you big brats, fine, you're tired and sweaty and it's gross out here. Okay? And? If we're going to finish this job, which I am, then we're going to have to just suck it up and be all of those things. We might be out here for days. A week. Months. Who knows?"

Navi did. If it was more than week, she was definitely tapping out. Perhaps even the day part…

"Don't you guys feel it?" Haven insisted. "I just don't get it, I guess, Locke. My dad hates you. Like, really fucking hates you. This may be your only chance at ever doing something cool like this. All of us. Together. On a real S-Class job. I thought you always wanted to do that together?"

"Yeah," he agreed. "When one of us was fucking actually S-Class."

"Locke-"

"I just," he insisted, "want to know that it's there, Haven. That there's really something there. That we're not just looking for nothing. That we're not going to get in trouble for nothing."

"I can feel it."

"But I can't."

"Then maybe it won't appear to you."

"Haven-"

"That's what he said. That it appears to who it wants to." And she shrugged, taking a few steps back then, the tension gone. "Maybe it just won't choose you."

"Oh, but you're the chosen one, right, Haven?"

Always.

Still, Navi could feel their fight winding down (thankfully without any true tussling) and only went to retrieve the compass from where it set.

"Hey, guys?" she called over to them as she lifted it up with a frown. "I think you broke our compass."

"What good is a fucking compass?" Ravan was grumbling from behind his bandanna then as, somehow, Haven and Locke seemed to find a resolve in one another. Fucking gross. "If we don't even know what direction we need to go in?"

"What do you mean, Navi?" Locke was coming over to her then. "It- Oh, yeah, great, Haven, you broke it."

"You broke it!" Still, she came over as well. Frowning, she asked, "Why's the needle jumping all around like that? How do compasses work, anyways? Magic?"

"Are you serious?" Locke couldn't help it. He really grinned then. "You don't know how a compass-"

"How does it work then?"

"Magnets," Navi whispered as Locke only continued to sneer at Haven. "It's like… You know how opposites attract? The world is kinda like that. A magnet. There's different poles and-"

"What would make it do this?" Haven interrupted because she really wasn't into a science lesson. Magic just being magic summed up most things she didn't understand and she liked it that way for the most part. "Look at it. It's going crazy."

"I guess," Locke offered up as even Ravan came to glance at it though he gave nothing away behind his cloth, "maybe there's something else magnetic. Close. That's causing it to mess up."

"No," Navi said with a shake of her head. "Wouldn't the needle just follow it? That would mean that the magnet is spinning."

"The world spins," Haven offered up. "And you guys said it's a magnet, so-"

"Do you only half listen?" Locke questioned. "Or-"

As she glared at him, Ravan only snorted.

"You guys threw it," he said with a shake of his head. "Fucked it up. Broke it. Like Navi said. You-"

"Or," Haven began as, snatching the magnet from the others, she held it victoriously, "it means we're close."

"Why does it mean that?" Locke asked, but she was only pulling her water bottle out of her knapsack.

"Take your break," she informed the others. "Because we're gonna get back to it soon."

A rallying of the troops was had on her father's end as well. They all still seemed to be debating whether they were all on the same team or not. Gajeel just knew that, regardless of the outcome, his son was going to eat the biggest shit over the whole thing, which didn't sit right with him at all, while Natsu still wasn't so sure his daughter had done anything, really.

Other than stolen his scarf.

Plus, if she had gone out on an S-Class job that they'd stolen, he was mostly just pissed she'd neglected to tell him. The other teens were of little interest to him, truthfully, and whatever happened to them didn't matter. He lived by the easy to follow code of, as long as you weren't actively trying to hurt one of your friends, then you were pretty much free to do whatever. So while the scarf thing had to be worked out, she'd not done much bad at all in his eyes.

Lucy didn't feel nearly the same way. She had a sinking feeling that the Master was going to be punishing the kids pretty severely, which she did find well deserved and wouldn't make any complaints about, but everyone else seemed to be ignore the blatantly obvious; they'd all run off on a job they were grossly under-prepared for. Locke was, at best, a strong young man, but also most proficient in healing magic. Ravan was a swordsman, not a real mage. Not where it counted. And Navi...she loved Navi, but… Her daughter just wasn't cut out to be a mage. Natsu didn't say it, didn't think it, but Lucy could tell. She'd always been able to. Then there was Haven. The one Lucy was sure got them in the whole mess. She didn't dislike Haven (she was kind of her best friend's oldest daughter; that made it a tad difficult), but the girl had spent the majority of her life tormenting and bullying the others. She'd grown out of it, sort of, in recent years, but this was replaced by needlessly goading them out on jobs. Forcing things. She overestimated and refused to accept the folly in this. It had lead to more than a few serious injuries.

Knowing that they were out there, one some job she knew nothing about, Lucy couldn't help the overwhelming foreboding she got from the thought. Punishment when they got them all back home, sure, no matter how severe, but she just wanted to get them there first. Home. All of them. But especially her daughter.

Erza and Laxus were perhaps the most aligned. In a way. The woman was defending her guilds honor, he was the Master of said guild, and that meant that she would act on his discretion. The slayer was finding his abundant anger had ebbed, however, over the course of the train ride and, well, he was on edge as he thought of everything that could possibly be happening at that moment. To Haven. Not the others. It was wrong, he knew. He'd been raised to believe a guild was all for one, one for all, but he'd just never bought into that. Not fully. His daughter was the one he cared was safe. He cared was alright.

He would agree with Lucy's assessment, had he heard it; Haven was needlessly reckless. It had led the others into numerous accidents over the years. She had drive, just like him, and immense power, just like he had, but she seemed to lack the nuance in how to wield it. Laxus had grown up seeing the despair and damage that could happen if you didn't reign in your power, but Haven wasn't the same. The guild hadn't been threatened, hadn't fallen into disarray, because of some sort of magical occurrence. Her father hadn't fallen to a darkness from within, due to the greed that magical ability bread. None of that.

Magic was an extent of one's self. Haven had never had a restriction put on her, not in her entire life, in any way at all. Not truly. So her magic felt limitless. Her power. Her strength. If she could envision it, Haven felt as if she could attain it. Which was fine, in theory, but in practice…

It just wasn't feasible. It was too close, honestly, for Laxus' taste, to the way Ivan thought and felt about things. The greed. To think that she could risk the lives of her friends, knowing what happened, all those years ago, to her Aunt Lisanna, it just…

It didn't sit right with Laxus.

None of the things his daughter had done as of late had. Not really. He and Haven hadn't seen eye to eye in a long time, but the past two years, he couldn't think of a time when eh even liked the kid. Just in a general way. She'd picked a war with him at some point, or maybe he had with her, and it seemed to have no ending in sight. Short of one of them keeling over for the other, which neither had the intention of doing, there was no making nice. She would always be his daughter, but…

"You alright? Laxus?"

Freed came to sit beside him that night as they camped out, nearly to Incidio, but knowing that arriving in the dead of night would be useless. The kids where off in the forest. They needed to find the client. But staying at a nearby town was out because no one trusted another not to ditch out on a hotel room and head off to find the teens on their own. Mostly Gajeel, honestly, felt like that was a possibility.

And it was. Natsu was hoping to get close enough to track Navi's scent and go find out just what she was up to. And to get his scarf back. He felt more than a bit nude without it.

They made an awkward camp, honestly, there being so many of them, and no one seemed to find any real rest. Bickslow, who had the least stake int eh group, eventually produced a deck of cards and that calmed things down some, as everyone save the slayer and Erza easily fell into a game of some sorts. The swords would only cautioned the others of staying up too late before laying away from the fire, not facing them.

They all tried their hardest not to bother her, but the game did get a bit rowdy at one point.

Laxus just sat alone though, back to the fire, as he glared off into the forest. Eventually though, his most faithful follower noted his discomfort and came to join him.

"This is the fucking reason," he found himself grumbling to Freed, "that your fucking kids shouldn't be allowed to join your damn guild. Kids in general."

"Haven's hardly a kid."

"Might as well be." He snorted, the slayer did, before remarking, "She fucking did this on purpose, you know."

"Did what?"

"This." But he didn't even move to gesture about. Only continued to glare. "Haven makes every fucking thing in the world about her. And now, instead of prepping for S-Class trials, I'm out here trying to track her down. Why? Huh? Because she's run off again, when she knew she wasn't supposed to. My entire time as guild master has been miserable. Always because of Haven."

Freed felt like he should caution the man on getting so down on himself and his daughter as, of course, his frequent bouts of discontentment were no more the girl's fault than his own. Being a guild master was just never going to be what Laxus always hoped and dreamed. Whether Haven was there fucking it up or not. Still, it was his moment there, to vent, and Freed wouldn't take it from him.

"She's always going to do this. This kind of shit." Laxus tilted his head up, to stare into the sky. "No matter what I do or what I say, she's always going to undermine me. Always. It's a game. But I'm fucking tired of playing it. When I see her…"

But he didn't say. And Freed didn't press. Eventually, they all found something close to rest, though it was tentative. The distrust was palpable. The sky was just lightening when, though Lucy and Happy both begrudged it, they all rose to finish the trek to Incidio.

As the others ate upon arrival at a little cafe, Freed and Erza went to find someone who might know the whereabouts of someone who requested the assistance of a wizard guild.

"Some kids," the tiny town's only shopkeeper remarked to the two, "were asking about the same thing. It's the Professor, down in the forest you want, right? Yeah, I'll get ya some directions."

"Of course," Lucy griped softly to Natsu once they finally all set out, "they had to choose a job in the grossest forest around."

"Iggy and Lucky would like it," Happy offered as he flew about. "All the mud and bugs and-"

"Yeah, well, they can keep it," their mother decided. He was right though. "I swear, if another thing crawls on me-"

"Don't crawl on Lucy," came five voices as, actually, it was her skin crawling hem as Bicsklow's dolls began to circle about her. "Papa. Don't crawl on Lucy."

"Wouldn't dream of it," he remarked though he was actually pretty busy trying not to get his pants too muddy.

"Did you hear that? Natsu?" Lucy was calling over to her husband. "What Bickslow just said? And his dolls said? Because, uh-"

"I'm just wondering," the slayer was growling instead as he stomped through the forest, "how come Navi's in so much trouble, huh? When you think about it, the job wasn't even posted yet. So it couldn't have been S-Class."

"Aye, sir!" Happy flew right over to his friend. "When you think about it, at worst, they took a request that wasn't even completely filed yet, with Fairy Tail. And is there even a law against it? Taking a n unlisted job?"

"None I know of, Hap," Natsu agreed.

"It even sounds kinda manly," Elfman agreed with a nod of his head. "When you put it like that."

"If you are working unaffiliated with Fairy Tail," Erza retorted from where she walked with Laxus and Freed, towards the front of the pack, "then the rules are the same as they might be were you no longer a member. You are not allowed to use your connections with the guild to benefit yourself. They did that the second they used Marin to obtain the job. And when we find this...professor, I am sure he too will mention that they made it clear they were from Fairy Tail. So, following your line of thinking, they are in more trouble than just taking a job under the guise of being a rank they are not."

This hung over the others for a moment or two before Happy remarked, "Then Navi definitely didn't do that."

"Yeah," Natsu agreed. "She didn't do that at all."

"A man wouldn't do it," Elfman agreed. "I don't guess."

Freed glanced back at the horde of them before remarking, "Things would go much faster if you sped up and kept the chatter to a minimum."

Gajeel, who was the one trailing behind the most with his cat, only snorted though. The others could do whatever they wanted. He was gonna get Locke, knock some sense into him, and then take him back home while the Master was still all pissy at his own daughter. Locke could deal with his standing in the guild back in Magnolia when flared tensions faded.

The door to the little cabin was open when they approached and, Freed leading the way now, the man rushed to go and call out.

"Hello?" He peeked inside. "Is someone-

"Are you from the city?"

It wasn't the little old man though that popped out at the man. No. Rather, it was a slight woman in a nurses uniform, looking in shock when she found the brutes standing out there.

"No," Freed replied as, coming up behind him, Laxus took over.

"We're from Fairy Tail," the Master grumbled. "And-"

"Oh, no." She sighed some, coming further out of the cabin then. "I… I forgot that he did that. Wrote to you. I'd invite you in, but the place isn't exactly...and body is..."

"We're not here for the job," Laxus kept up. "We-"

"I thought you said you were Fairy Tail?"

"We are," he agreed. "But-"

"It's our kids, yeah? That took the job?" Natsu was growing impatient. "They shouldda rolled through here a few days ago. Do you know where they are? They were supposed to meet a professor or-"

"He's passed."

"Passed what?" Natsu asked as his wife only elbowed him heavily.

"His body is...inside then," Freed whispered. "That is what you-"

"Overnight, he took a turn for the worst," she agreed as she glanced about them. "I usually do not stay the night, but he was so unwell… It was only a few hours ago that he finally went. I got on the lacrima to inform the town and thought that you all were who they sent to...to...collect..."

Her eyes were misty then and the men all looked off as the woman reached up to rub at her eyes though Lucy came forwards to rest a hand on her shoulder with sympathetic eyes.

"I'm sorry," the nurse whispered softly. "He… The job meant a lot to him. He didn't mention to me, when I arrived the other day, anything about wizards coming by to help him, but his mind was gone. The heat, no doubt, exasperated his ailments. I do not know if your children have been through here or not."

"Can you tell us, at least?" Erza asked. "About the job? I understand that this is a trying time for you, but-"

"It's a bit ridiculous." Blinking away her tears, she said, "But there is nothing that he would rather me do, I imagine, than tell you about it right now. Maybe you can help find it."

But as their elders listened to the story, the teens only continued to argue over it. After a horrible night spent in the woods, Ravan and Locke both seemed intent with making everyone else as miserable as possible if only because included in that everyone was the other and there was no one either hated more than the other. Ravan was still very intent on, if he just made the other guy upset enough, he'd pack it in and head home, while Locke thought if he could sabotage the whole thing, then Haven would easily come to the realization they were better off going home together.

Though neither seemed to be winning at the moment, they both kept right at one another's necks. If anything, they were closer to making Navi just leave which, fine, Ravan was down with, but Locke really wouldn't have wanted the girl trying to find her way back out of the forest alone.

Haven's resolve had only grown though overnight and the broken compass meant something to her. She was mostly able to block out the bickering and would only continue on walking, ignoring any complaints sent her way from the others. She was getting so close, she could feel it, to breaking. To yelling at them. Ditching them, honestly. All of them. Except maybe Ravan. And that was a strong maybe. He'd given her the gift of the job, but his attitude during it was really getting on her nerves.

She didn't deal with it well, honestly, when others had emotions. Any kind of emotions. It conflicted with the high amount of attention she required from herself and the other person. Unacceptable.

Ignoring them was made no longer an option though when they didn't just follow along. Not just straggling either. Ravan and Locke, it seemed, had finally had enough of one another and, when she glanced back at them, it was to see them standing apart still, but clearly debating whether or not to throw down right then.

"Guys," Navi tried, but it hardly mattered what anyone said. This had been a long time coming. Still, she went to press a hand against Locke's chest and shove him back some. Or at least try to. He didn't budge. "Knock it off. Haven, could you-"

"If you're gonna fight, fight." She still stood where she'd stopped, up ahead of them, but did turn then to watch. As Navi gave her a dirty look, the blonde said simply, "I'm tired of the two of you. Both of you. If you wanna fight, have at it. Then whoever's coming with me can catch up."

Having her permission to eliminate her boyfriend from the job (not to mention Navi, who would no doubt stay around to tend to the guy), was all the confirmation Ravan needed. Reequipping the his favorite sword into his right hand, he held it in front of his face. Locke, mostly, didn't care about Haven's blessing. Not then.

He just really wanted to kick the other guy's ass already.

Before Ravan could make a move, Locke's arms turned to steel and he was slammed a fist aimed right for the other guy's face into...into a helmet, which Ravan had reequipped into in the nick of time. This shocked Locke who'd never seen the guy do it before, reequip into armor. Rather, he usually just showed up wearing it, if he was going to do that.

Improvement. But Locke didn't have time to congratulate the other teen. Nor would he, if he did. Because just as quickly, after jumping back at first, Ravan was rushing forward with his blade and the best that Locke to do, to block it, was hold up his steel arm to deflect it.

It was almost like his own armor. Just on one arm though. As they broke apart, both with dark eyes, a single beat passed before they were at one another again, rushing with absolute ferocity. Navi could only stand by and watch, concerned, and glancing after Haven frequently, expecting her to return and put an end to things.

But she didn't.

Not that she was far though. Rather, just out of sight, she waited, back pressed against a tree, to see who it would be. She had no preference between the two of them, really, just that it was only one. So she could actually get back to the hunt.

The tense minutes ticked away though and, when no one came, she grew at least a little bit concerned. She'd been able to hear them before, the natural echos of a fight, but everything felt eerily silent then. Eventually, she gave in and went back to find them. Only...they weren't there. Where she left them. It would have been hard to tell, honestly, where exactly they'd stopped for their fight, given how dense and monotonous the forest was, but she could see the indents in the ground from where one of the guys had dug his shoes in, deeply, only to be forced back by the other. It was definitely where they'd fought, but neither of them, nor Navi, was there any longer.

It had been the other girl that caused this. As Locke and Ravan fought for...well...maybe Haven, maybe just because they hated one another, but certainly for something, she started to notice it. In the distance, shaded in the thick foliage.

"Are we close," she whispered, more to herself, "to a town?"

That was what appeared to be the case as it was a soft glow, almost like that you'd get when traveling to a job, through a woods. One minute, nothing, the next, the gentle lights that shone through the previously dark surroundings. But it felt...different then because it wasn't as strong. Even the tiniest of village had to have some sort of light source. Maybe a big fire pit in the center of it with others all about. Torches. Lanterns. Something. But the glows she saw weren't numerous. Or a lot. Just enough that maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her, but-

"Navi!" Locke was able to jump out of the way of a blow from Ravan while still witnessing his friend rushing away from them, in a different direction than Haven, into the thick woods that surrounded them. "Where are you going?"

"Coward," Ravan called after Locke as he completely turned his back then, on the other guy, as he moved to rush after the girl. "Locke. Navi. You're gonna get lost."

But wasn't that the point?

And Ravan wanted to go after Haven. He did. It was what he really wanted all along, after all. He could just tell Haven that Locke and Navi had taken off back for home and then they could go off on their adventure together. Alone. But…

When he looked after where the older guy was racing after the younger girl, he could see it too.

"Locke!" Haven was yelling at the moment when she couldn't find any of them, anywhere. "Locke, where are you? Ravan? Navi? Locke!"

Panic didn't suit Haven well and it might have gotten bad, had she rushed off to find them, but, of course, at her call, he was always right back there.

"Haven, come on!" Locke was coming back to her, for her, and she hated relief. With a passion. Because it meant she'd felt something. Yuck. But as he appeared there, behind some thick trees, she couldn't help it as the feeling washed over her. Grinning, Locke beckoned her regardless. "You have to see it."

"See what?" she complained, but he was turning and she was rushing after him because she knew then. It wasn't as easy for her to see as it had been for them, but as she chased after the other teen, she saw the glow of the fire and usually, she'd take time out to berate the others for doubting her, but her glee was just too real in that moment.

"A town," she whispered as she and Locke made it then, to where the other two stood in equal shock, before the large wooden gates of a city, a long pole on each side holding it's own, bright burning torch, as a banner above looked as if, maybe, at some point, there'd been something chiseled there, but it was so worn and faded with time that it was far closer to being blank, "with no name."


	5. Chapter 5

There was a certain fear of the unknown that crept into the bellies of all the teens as they stood there, before the large gates, all four in varying stages of shock. Haven, eventually, hugged Locke and Ravan was brought out of his shock because, again, gross.

Navi though just took to whispering, "What kind of magic is this?"

But none of them had an answer for her. Only the same resounding question. Finally though, Haven had collected herself to move forwards.

"Here," she whispered as she reached up to lift the first torch from it's holder and present it to Locke. Just as quickly though, she was turning to the other and giving it to Ravan.

"Navi and I," she explained simply, "can produce our own light. If we need it."

But the other girl was only going over to Locke and inspecting the fire burning on the torch, reaching out to take some and levitate it in her own palm. She wished, suddenly, that her father was there with her. Experiencing it with her. So he could taste the fire. No doubt he'd have something to say about it.

Haven, of course, led the way into the city, pushing forwards through the gate. At first, when they stepped through the gap they created between the wooden gates, it was to find too much fog to really see anything. Locke was cautious to discover this, but Ravan only rushed forwards with the fearless Haven (who needed to sight when you were pretending to be fearless), and Locke had to head after them, with Navi, because, as he called out to Haven, they couldn't all get separated.

"Do you hear me? Haven," he was complaining, like always, but she was pretty good at ignoring it, "this isn't a game."

"Right," she agreed, "it's a job."

"Haven-"

For a moment, everything lit up as, from the sky, a loud crack of thunder rolled across the sky and then lightning shot across it, forming first fro the blonde's outstretched hand. It was only a glimpse, only for a moment, but somehow, it made it all the more breathtaking. If the options the Professor had given them were an old village or a modern day town, they fell somewhere in the middle as buildings surrounded them on all sides definitely weren't huts, but were far less advanced than the kids were accustomed in their bustling city of Magnolia. Their eyes hardly had time though to scan the streets as, instead, they all fell to what lay before them.

"A temple?" Navi whispered. "He didn't say anything about-"

"If there was going to be treasure somewhere," Haven whispered, but stopped as Ravan shoved in to her, the one running ahead then. They all would have begun chasing one another once more, through the dense fog, were it not for what happened next.

He had to skid to a stop, Ravan did, as it almost seemed to materialize out of the nothingness around them. Yes. That was the only explanation, honestly. One minute, Haven had the sky lit up and there was nothing before them and the next…

It was a sickening beast, the monster that loomed before them was. A shadow at first, the moon or the sun or whatever the fuck was out then seemed to shine down on the area in just the right way, highlighting what stood before the teens.

Standing at a towering height, over the nearby buildings, even, they felt dwarfed before him as Ravan dropped his torch to reequip a weapon. His jaw alone was terrifying as gruesome teeth grew far too large to hang in his mouth and instead stuck out, the canines interlocking over one another on each side. The worst part of it though was, even from where they stood, all those yards away, was the sickening saliva that he dripped in big droplets down the front of his hairy face, only to stick in the mangled beige and red intermingled fuzz. A

s most their gazes fell slowly down to he massive paws that dangled in the air, claws nearly the size of each of them, Locke found his red eyes staring heavily at the similar irises. He panted, gripping the torch tightly in his hand, getting a splinter even, but he couldn't relax. Even when the others flinched at the way the beast threw it's neck forwards, towards them, and let out a loud screech as rancid spit jumped from gnarled teeth and landed about them, Locke stood perfectly still. Waiting.

"Haven!" His torch fell too as he launched himself at the other teen, getting slashed in the process by the thick claws that nearly shredded her entirely. It only scratched open his shoulder, stinging like a bitch immediately, but he he didn't cry out. Only laid out, over his girlfriend, who was just as quickly trying to shove up.

"Locke," she griped as he only glared up and over at the beast. "Get off me!"

"I just saved you, idiot."

"Doubt it."

"Haven-"

His first attack having hardly met its intended, the beast roared once more, but now seeing it's means of battle, the other pair were ready for their opening gambit. Navi yelled out a spell, hands alight with golden flames which she sent towards the monster, multiple all at once, all about his massive face which, with comically over sized paws (when they weren't menacing as they sliced away at your teammates), caused it to begin waving about, attempting to extinguish any fires catching in the fur. This provided Ravan with the in he needed to take a running start so he could jump high in the air only to bring the hammer he'd drawn out of his inventory down on the giant's massive lower paws.

As it howled in pain, Locke did as well as Haven sent electricity jumping throughout her entire body, just to get him off her finally. But as he rolled away from her, Raijin's daughter only slowly got to her feet, assessing the situation. Leave it to Locke to ruin her fun. It seemed now like Navi and Ravan were handling things and that was just bullshit, honestly. She was, by far, the better mage and she and Locke were definitely the better duo (also the only duo), so his sabotage (saving her life) only reminded her of one important fact; she was, as she was always meant to be, a solo artist.

Ravan was rearing back to bring his mallet down once more, on the other foot...paw...thing, when just as he lifted it over his head, he suddenly had force pushing against him instead.

"Haven," he complained from inside of his helmet and it was so different, the way he griped at her from Locke. One one exasperation and one was complete annoyance. "How-"

Much like him, she'd taken a running start and jumped, jumped as high as she could, but it wasn't to bring a downward force, but rather to hitch a quick stint on the upwards one his mallet was bringing. As he swung it up, she used that to propel herself further up. The monster, who was off balance now, on one foot as the one Ravan had already hit he lifted in the air, jumping about in pain, was falling at just enough of an angle that Haven only need to travel up a little bit further and wow, Navi thought, as she watched her friend's electric fist connect with the beast's jaw.

Teeth crunching, he flew back from her, dissipating in the fog once more.

This all happened so quickly and from an extreme amount of impulse so Haven never rightly planned what would happen when the upward ascent was finished. A downward one, of course, but Haven rarely considered the things that came after the glory.

Luckily though, someone did.

"See?" Haven retorted to Locke. "Not so nice to be crushed by someone, is it?"

He'd tried to catch her and missed just enough, or perhaps not been strong enough, and somehow ended up worse for wears over it.

"That was my kill," Ravan was growling, unconcerned. "Haven. I was handling it."

"Uh, I was doing something too," Navi pointed out though, at the moment, she was merely rushing over to the downed Locke. Haven was kind enough to get off him and reach down to try and pull him to his feet. When her hand came away bloody, she only frowned.

"Did the monster get you?" she asked as Ravan, still sulking, came to peek as well. When Locke only nodded numbly, Haven said, "We need to clean it. No telling what was on his claws."

It was bad too. Deep and gruesome.

Navi sewed it up for him, his wound, after washing it thoroughly. The bleeding wasn't stopping any other way. Haven and Ravan in the meantime only each held a torch and critiqued.

It was what they were best at.

Still, they all expected something more. Something else. To bounce at them out of the fog. But nothing came. They only sat there on the cobblestone paved street, tending to Locke's wound from the med supplies in his bag, all silently hoping there was no more. Not for the moment anyways. They needed to catch their breaths.

Regroup.

"You're gonna have to stop getting hurt so much," Haven remarked to Locke as he tried hard to pretend that needles didn't freak him out a bit. His girlfriend only flicked his head though, when she noticed him paying too much attention to what Navi was doing. When this got a glare, she added, "A few scars is hot. Too many is unattractive."

"Oh yeah?" he retorted. "What's saving your life? Every fucking time?"

"Nothing you've ever done, so I wouldn't know."

Ravan only stewed nearby, though he wasn't sure if it was from their annoying banter or still over what, in his mind, was definitely his kill, gosh, it was so his kill.

"It's not pretty," Navi told Locke. "But it's what we have, right now."

Still, he patted her roughly on the head and Haven traded him his torch back as they all got to their feet.

"The temple then?" Locke asked and no one was running of anywhere now. Not by themselves. He slung his pack back over his shoulders and hoped his stitches would hold because he did not want to go through that again (needles were the worst), while the others only all glanced about, as if fearful that there were more monsters about.

Haven took a deep breath as she took the first step, Locke at her side this time. To him, she replied, "The temple."

But as their adventure felt as if it were only just beginning, the misadventure their guardians had set out upon felt far more like it had never gotten off its feet. Laxus, Natsu, and Gajeel all insisted that they could track the scent of the teens, but it led them all over the place and they never rightly seemed to get anywhere, really, than another part of the dense forest with no real direction or clue that the others had been there.

"Maybe," Happy whispered once to Natsu who was sulking over being unable to track his daughter, "Navi and the others couldn't find it either, you know? The town? So they headed back home."

"Maybe," Lucy sighed as they could only continue to trudge along behind the others. She knew it wouldn't be long before another fight brewed between the group, if it wasn't already brewing, as Bickslow was more than annoying both Laxus and Elfman, which annoyed Gajeel because anyone talking seemed to annoy Gajeel who didn't look half as peeved by their nonchalant attitudes as Erza.

Too many people had journeyed out on a menial task. She wanted to ditch them, honestly. All of them. She would be able to track down Ravan, she was certain, if she didn't have the men constantly bickering with one another. Either that or she would be able to figure out the trick. The ruse. Or even if there was one. A lost city was hardly an original concept for a myth and she wasn't certain if she bought it or not, but she knew that the others weren't considering nearly strong enough the possibility that the children were equally as lost as them, somewhere, out there. They kept consulting the map, trying to follow along points that the nurse had told them the professor visited frequently, when he was still able to do so.

But that made no sense to her. Not truly. Sure, fine, maybe they could get a town to appear in those spots, perhaps, if that was what the intention was, but she just felt as if it weren't what the teens would think. She felt as if she knew them all well enough to know that, while they took jobs seriously, they were still young. And when you were young, you were almost always looking for a shortcut. Especially the slayer children. They would see the spots more as already having been investigated, she figured, and probably not head there at all.

And this was assuming they were all still together. She had her doubts about that. They were known for their explosive fights. Perhaps not so much in recent years, as they hardly all traveled together, but Erza knew how Ravan felt about the other two. He and Haven might be friends, but he certainly wasn't with Locke or Navi. In the stress of not only stealing an S-Class job, but also being in a muggy forest on a perhaps unsolvable request, well, she imagined the teens fought. A lot. Given it was all their parents had done the entire time, it seemed likely.

She tried to voice this to the others when, finally, they all sat around for a break, but it was useless.

"The fuck did you just say?"

The guys were already at one another's throats again.

"You heard me," Gajeel growled as Laxus as they looked ready to throw down. Maybe. Gajeel usually didn't tussle with those who he didn't see himself as creaming and, though Laxus was somewhat out of action in those days, he did have his two brother-in-laws and most faithful follower at his side. But Gajeel had his kitty. Not to mention his pride. And a growing concern that his son was going to take all the blame for what he was sure he had nothing to do with. "It's your fucking daughter that's always ruining everyone's life. Especially Locke. You can't do anything in this guild anymore because you have a tyrant daughter who-"

"That's my niece you're talking about," Elfman complained with a glare of his own. It was rare for him to be allied with Laxus, but he certainly was when it came to Haven's honor.

"Then you fucking know," Gajeel growled as he stood alone on one side of the clearing, only Pantherlily at his feet, "what I'm talking about."

"Hey, guys, could you not?" Lucy was very busy waving bugs off her, but did manage a glare their way. "We're all worried about the kids, alright? But-"

"I'm not." Natsu was very busy as well, searching through both he and Lucy's bag for any scrap of food. Happy only held the knot of his knapsack close to the front of his neck, not wanting the man to notice he was harboring a fish in there. "What's to worry about?"

"Uh, try that they're out on a job that we hardly know anything about-" his wife tried, but he only waved her off.

"The kids are fine, I bet," he said as, giving up, he looked over to the others. "Some of us have trust in our kid."

It helped that, truly, he was the only one with a kid. The others only had adults who could make their own life choices. They just...weren't masking the proper ones. So they felt the need to intervene.

"You fucking stay out of it," Gajeel growled, glaring over at him. "Your stupid daughter is hardly even a part of the guild. Who gives a fuck what happens to her?"

"Hey," Lucy complained as Happy's wings appeared. He didn't fly over to confront the man, but he was ready to, should need be.

"It's true," the man insisted. "Both of you, your fucking daughters have ruined Locke! He's always spending all his damn time looking out for them both. And when he's not, they're making his life hell!"

"The only one that makes his life hell is you," Lucy retorted as Natsu abandoned his search for a meal and instead set his sights on a fight. "At least our kids like us." Then she considered. "At least Navi likes us, I mean. Your kids both hate you."

Laxus was too angry to consider the truth in this statement.

Gajeel though saw no correlation to himself and evne growled, head titled back, up at the sky. "Your fuckin' lucky, blondie, you know that? Because if it wasn't for the fact my wife would never shut the fuck up about it, I might do somethin', real bad to ya right now."

"Is that right?" Natsu didn't need a lot to start a fight, honestly, but disrespecting his wife definitely constituted one, he thought, and it just kind all went to crap there. Bickslow rushed to break up the fight when Laxus growled at the others to knock it off, but it was no use. Gajeel and Natsu hadn't had an excuse to throw around for a long while. Even Elfman tried to help break them up, but Bickslow took exception to this because Laxus had asked _him_ and yeah, okay, he kinda had been looking for an excuse to fight with Elfman too.

Uncle versus uncle. How it should be.

The Master was seething as he watched this all unfold and static began to jump ever so slightly from his body. Freed took notice and tried, polietly, to inform the others that they had to cease their tussling, but it was no use.

"Enough!" Erza, finally, was forced to be the voice of reason. It echoed, her scream did, throughout the mostly empty forest, the force just enough to get the guys to all stop, if only for a moment, what they were doing. At the moment, Gajeel had Natsu pinned to the ground as the other man was just about ready to reach up and knock him out with a flaming fist, but they were lucky this hadn't been allowed to continue because Bickslow's babies were just about to knock into Elfman at full force, knocking him over, where the muscular man was certainly poised to land directly on both the others heads.

At the very least, they would lose some of the very few brain cells they still had. Not something either Natsu nor Gajeel could risk.

"This is a job," Erza continued on as silence fell over them, "for one person. Yet you all invited yourselves on it under the guise of what? Saving your children? As if they need saving. They are Fairy Tail wizards. They have made their own ways. I cannot say how much better nor worse their lives would be without one another, but I can say that they have no life currently, without relying on one another. For you, their parents, to have such a lack of faith in them-"

"Then what the fuck are you doing here? Huh?" Gajeel glared over at her as Natsu finally bucked the other man off him. "If not for your dumb son?"

"I am here to bring justice."

"Oh, great," the man grumbled right back. "Justice, huh? Can't see that ending horribly."

"Erza is right."

"Wh- Cat!" Gajeel frowned over at Pantherlily who hadn't transformed to help aid him in his fight. That's when Gajeel should have recognized him and his turncoat nature. "How could ya-"

"Locke is a man," Pantherlily told him simply. "A man who has broken one of the Master's rules. I do not know if the Master himself can provide unbiased judgment in this situation-"

"The fuck did you just say?" Laxus growled and Lily had to look away because he just knew the man would cause it the thunder and that would be the end of his bravery. Rushing to get it all out then, the Exceed continued.

"But Erza," he insisted, "will. There is no one with more honor."

"Yeah?" Glaring over at the woman, Gajeel asked, "What will you do to my boy? Huh?"

"Followers," she told him simply, "have their own retribution to pay, but Locke has never led anything, so if it were up to me, his punishment would not be nearly as severe. But it is not. The Master-"

"Follower." Gajeel snorted again. "Follower."

But the more he said it, the more he had a rock in his gut because yeah, that's what he was, wasn't he? The entire time? A follower. Never a leader. He always played it up like his son was being manipulated by the girls, mostly Haven, which might still be true in some regard, but more so, Locke had no direction on his own. He never had. When he went out on jobs by himself, it was because his father had directed him to take them, to impress the Master. Not because he wanted to. And even then, S-Class was less of a status symbol to Locke or a point to strive for, but rather a place that he and Haven would eventually find together, to be together. He didn't want it for himself; he wanted it for them. Everything Locke wanted was for the group. Or for he and Haven. His best interested was staked on the best interest of them as a team.

And that pissed Gajeel off so much.

"I do not rule though," Erza reminded the others. "Over anything. My intention is to find the children and bring them to the Master. Now that he is here, assuming we do not get separated, I plan simply to assist him in rounding them up and taking them back to the guild for their atonement. Or deal with them here, if he so commands. I understand why you are all tense, but do not be upset with the Master; be upset with your offspring. They are the ones who were deceitful. Master has been nothing short of upfront."

No one spoke for a good few moments, glancing about one another. Only Freed seemed to nod in approval of the woman as she'd saved him from expressing something much the same.

"What's that?"

It was Happy though that broke the silence as he got excited, suddenly, and began to fly out of the clearing. "Navi? Natsu, can't you see it? Fire!"

"Y-Yeah! Hey! Navi!"

"What are you guys- Natsu, wait." Lucy had to take off after them as the man and his Exceed darted off into the thick brush around them. "What do you see?"

It was a trickle into the others following after the slayer and Gajeel was the last. Even Pantherlily took off before him. He could hear them though, loudly speaking about some torches or something. But...he couldn't see them, Gajeel couldn't. And when he got to where he'd thought they were all gathered, no one was there.

Had they ditched him?

"Where the fuck did you go? Guys? Cat?" He glanced all about, but was lost. About as lost as his son felt in that moment, back inside the city.

He felt so stupid after the fact. So dumb. There he was, walking along with Haven beside him one second and then..then…

The problems began before that though. Rather, no matter how much they walked, they never seemed any closer to the temple in the distance. Haven didn't want to deplete her magic too much, but each time she lit up the sky for them, they seemed no closer to reaching their destination than they had minutes before. This concerned Navi, who spoke softly about it being some sort of a trick and perhaps they should rethink things, but Haven refused to even consider it.

"An optical illusion," she said simply.

"Yeah," Locke griped, "that it's there at all."

But she wanted, no needed, to get to that temple. It was magnificent to look at, even from the dim glimpses she'd been given. Long sets of steps ran up the staggered sides leading to a dark opening at the top. Whatever was in there, whatever was waiting for her, would be more than enough reward for the punishment she knew her father would hand down if he found out about the S-Class status of the job.

Monsters appeared along the way, but none as gruesome as the one they'd vanquished at the gate. They seemed to materialize out of the fog around, only to dissipate when challenged successfully. It was more tiring than it was difficult, at that point, for the teens, and Locke was beginning to question if there wasn't some sort of second piece, one that the Professor didn't know or hadn't shared with them, to get to the next step. He still wasn't exactly sure, even, how they'd found the place.

It had to be a trick. Something they'd done. But they'd just been fighting. But they'd fought before that and nothing came about. So what was different?

"Our magic?" Navi offered up to him. "Or yours, I guess, Locke. And Ravan's. You used your magic and then-"

"The one thing," he agreed, "that the professor couldn't do."

Ravan said nothing from inside his helmet where he was free to judge for himself what was going on. Haven ignored the pair too because she didn't like that side of things. Logically figuring things out. That was definitely Locke's job. He could just explain to her after the fact how their victory had come about.

Her part in it though, which was usually the battle, was all she really cared about. Technical aspects were left to him.

It was as they walked along though that… It felt like he only looked away for a moment. He heard something, it sounded like, in one of the buildings they were passing, but as he turned with his torch towards it, Haven must have continued on into the fog or…

"Haven?" he called as, turning back around, he found her gone. He could see the other torch, just a few steps away. Ravan. As he rushed over to the other boy though, in their combined light Locke could see that neither Navi nor Haven stood with him.

"Locke?" she was calling not too far off, but her voice seemed to die off in the rolling fog and Navi only stood by her side, fist alight. "Where did you go? Ravan?"

"Light up the sky," Navi insisted and Haven did so, but it did little to aid them. Wherever the boys were, they weren't with them.

"What do we do?" the pink haired girl was asking then, but Haven didn't know. So she said nothing for a long few moments.

"They know that we're headed to the temple," she insisted them before grabbing Navi's hand and leading her away. "So we'll just have to meet up with them there."

"Haven-"

"Come on." She was dragging her along then, through the darkness at first, before Navi finally held out her other hand, providing firelight. Haven only continued to tug though, walking faster and faster until they were just a smidgen away from running. "The temple."

She allowed herself to be carried on by the other girl though she knew it was a bad idea. The entire time. Something wasn't right. Haven had to notice. She did notice, Navi was nearly certain. She just didn't care.

Back in Magnolia, her sister had something big to care about. Mainly the fact that Kai was being super weird and distant. She was pretty sure she knew what was wrong too. Clearly, he was upset that she'd sent their siblings on a death mission simply due to negligence.

"No," Mira sighed that morning up at the hall where Kai refused to come in, instead only working his hours outside, preparing the flower beds for the season change. "I doubt it's that."

Marin couldn't put it out of her head though. It, along with the fact that she very much so did blame herself, was making the girl sick and Mira could tell she was stressed, so she only sent her home early that day. Kai wasn't around in the front of the hall when she left, but Marin figured it was for the better; she didn't want to disappoint him further.

Eventually, Kai did have to go into the hall, of course, to wash up and get a meal around noon. Ajax was there then, sitting with his mother before she started her shift, eating already.

"Marin went home early," the little boy sighed with a bit of a from. "That's what Aunt Mira said. Then Papa and Uncle Elf and Uncle Laxus all went to get Haven. This sucks. No one's here."

"I'm here," Lisanna told her with a bit of a frown. "You know."

"And so are we," Iggy also complained because they were staying with them, he and Lucky were, until their parents got back.

He knew, Ajax did. And he liked Lucky and Iggy. A lot. But they had nothing on Haven.

"Why'd she go home?" Kai asked, but none of them knew so he went on over to the counter where Mirajane was wiping down the bar.

"Hi, Kai," she greeted. "The usual?"

"Where's Marin?" he asked instead of responding. "Ms. Lisanna said that-"

"She's not feeling well," her mother said with a slight shrug. "About, well, you know, Haven and the others. Don't look so stricken."

He couldn't help it. Great. Now not only was he trying to avoid Marin because of...of...well, now he was also drawn to her, as he always was, when she was ill. She'd spent a good portion of her life being that constantly. As her best and only real friend, he always felt an immense need to care for her during these times. So after a miserable lunch had with Ajax who mostly complained about not having anyone to play with and the twins miserably reminding him they were, in fact there, before just giving up all together and running off to find something more fun to do in the hall (Ajax sucked when he got mopey), Kai set out for the Dreyar household.

It was one of the few routes that had been worked into his head until he could take if blindfolded.

Which Erza forced him to do.

Multiple times.

He knew it was just cause she loved him so much.

Even if it did almost lead to him getting hit by a car…

He didn't even knock, Kai didn't, when he got there. He wouldn't feel weird if Marin didn't knock before she came in either. He thought it was kinda dumb when you were as close as they were to worry about that sorta thing. Sure, it got him scolded by the Master a bunch, but who had time to knock? Especially if the Master wasn't around to do the scolding?

"Marin?"

"Kai?"

He grinned as she called out to him, knowing she couldn't be too down in the dumps, given the tone of voice she took. Hopeful. See? He knew that he just needed to come see her to have her feeling alright once more. Nothing to it.

He found her in her bedroom, now sitting up in bed, expecting him. It was only once her blue eyes were on him though that Kai felt the feeling wash over him again and, taking a deep breath, he forced it away as he came into the room.

"Your mom said you weren't feeling well," he said with a bit of a shrug and Marin returned it as, slowly, he came to sit on the edge of the bed and Marin shifted to sit beside him. Then they just sat there, silently. Uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry that you're mad at me," Marin finally said, btu she said it into her palm, which she brought up to her mouth the second she expelled that, unable to meet his eyes for the first time in a long time. "Kai."

"I'm not mad at you."

"Kai-"

"Honest."

"It's okay," she insisted. "I screwed up. I shouldn't have… I shouldn't have let them take that job and now it's all my fault and-"

"Ravan tricked you." He even shrugged, Kai did. It got tiring, playing so aloof all the time. He knew what his brother had done. He'd just been sticking up for him before, to Erza. For Marin, there didn't need to be an act. They both knew what had happened. "That's not your fault."

"But-"

"I'm serious, Marin. It's not. I don't even care about that." Not really, anyways. The others were gone so much in those days. It was hardly different, save the fact they, along with the adults, were all gone at once. "They'll be okay, you know."

"I know."

"Then-"

"Why are you mad at me?" She decided being direct was the only avenue that day. "Kai?"

"I'm not upset with you."

"You are though."

"No."

"Ever since Ravan took off with that job-"

"It doesn't have anything to do with that."

"Then what-"

"Your aunt said… Evergreen..." He was blushing really heavily then and Marin reached over to touch his arm, but Kai jumped right up, to get away from her. He couldn't look at her. Not as he said what he had to. "Ms. Evergreen said that I… Well, she said that I… She thought that I was your boyfriend or something. I heard her tell someone that. And...and I'm not."

"Oh." Marin didn't sound upset by this revelation. Mainly because it wasn't one. "Okay."

"I don't… I don't like you, Marin."

"Kai-"

"No, you know what I mean," he insisted, but his words were falling over one another then. "I like you. A lot. You're my best friend. But I don't, uh, like you, you know, like-"

"I know."

"But-"

"Kai, really." She stared over at him with concern still in her gaze. "It's okay."

But it wasn't.

Eyes falling to the floor, he kicked at it some and said, "I just… It's not you, Marin, it's just-"

"I know," was repeated by the girl, but he only shook his head. How could she? Know? She didn't, clearly.

The fifteen-year-old swallowed heavily and considered his thoughts carefully. He'd never been that before, around Marin. Nervous. But he was then. He felt panicky almost.

"I…don't think that I..." Kai dug his nails into his palms and there were no tears or anything, he didn't cry about every little thing in those days, but his eyes did itch and he didn't wanna do it, but at the same time, he had to. Get it out. Get it over with. To someone. To Marin. His best friend. "I don't think that I...like...girls, Marin, is all."

He let out a long breath too, after he said it and waited. When he got no response, he was quick to add, "If that's okay."

"Of course that's okay, Kai."

"Well-"

"Is that why you've been so upset?" She got up then, Marin did, and she was smiling sweetly at him, in that way she did when she knew he was upset. He'd come over to care for her, but clearly, he was the one worse for wears. Once she was in front of him though, Marin only reached out to pat at his shoulder and he could feel it then. Leaving him. That sick feeling he'd held onto for the past few days. "You could have just told me."

"I know," he whispered as he still eyed the ground. "But I didn't… I never did because… I'd never told anyone that before. At all. Not even Ravan. You can't tell Ravan. Or Erza or-"

"Kai, I don't think-"

"You can't."

"Okay," she agreed, but was still smiling at him and the queasiness was gone now, making it much easier to meet her eyes. "But you should. No one will care. I mean, I guess they'll care in a good way, but not in a bad one."

"You don't think so?"

"Do you?"

He didn't like to think about it. So he hadn't up to that point. Not really. Sometimes he felt like he should. Mention it to someone. Ravan mostly. His brother wasn't disinterest in girls, Ravan wasn't, but the pair weren't super close like that. Ravan wasn't close like that with anyone. He didn't share with Kai his feelings on anything, including those sorts of things. But if the posters that hung in their rooms and the magazines that Erza definitely hadn't been mortified to find, no, because that was very normal and she was just not going to be cleaning the boys room anymore, their job and theirs alone said anything about Ravan, it was that he was very much so into women. Which was fine. Kai just never...got that. It was different for him.

And that was scary. Being different. For someone that was so different from the others in most every other conceivable way, it felt a bit ridiculous to be worried about a single one, but he was. It was an unknown. Coming out. To anyone. Even as Marin hugged him and told him not to worry, it was difficult not to.

She was one thing. Marin. Mostly, he'd always been kind of worried that she...liked him or something and he didn't wanna hurt her or anything, but other than that, he didn't think that she'd, like, disown him or something. No. But the others…

"It's really not that different," Marin told him that night as they ate dinner over at her house, both free from work for once and without their guardians. He'd been spending the night back at home, alone, with no Erza or Ravan, which was great, but he kinda liked it there, with the Dreyars more when such a situation befell him. "Or...weird. It's not weird at all. You don't have to feel like that. No one's gonna-"

"No offense, Mar," he sighed as, though the stone over Marin had washed away, another began to form in it's place, just from the thought, "but you don't really get it."

She considered this before nodding because he was right. For once. He rarely was.

"I'm sorry my aunt made you feel like you had to tell me," she offered instead, but he just shook his head.

"I'm not," he assured her and they grinned at one another, again, finally. He still looked off though a beat sooner. "I wanted to."

They'd spent the day cleaning up around the house, but then, after dinner, only sat out in the dark living room with the movie lacrima. It was what they were doing when Mirajane arrived home late that night. Or had been doing. The woman only sighed as she stepped over them in the living room, careful not to wake the teens, as she headed off to her own room. Her mind was less on the two of them and more on her husband, who'd yet to send word of what was going on in Incidio.

"I hope everything's alright," she sighed to herself as she climbed into her, for once, empty bed. It would be a lie to say the past few nights weren't more restful without the slayer, but a bigger one to claim, right then, she didn't miss brushing her lips against his cheek before settling down for the night. "Dragon."


	6. Chapter 6

Time felt...different in the fog. Almost nonexistent. The sun or moon or whatever had shone, just that once, upon their entrance never did again and looking up only provided an equally as murky view of darkness. Locke yelled for Haven until his throat felt raw and then he and Ravan wandered for a bit, searching for any sight of the girls. Eventually, they felt so turned around that they took to just sitting there, in the middle of the empty road in the deserted town. Alone. Just the two of them.

Ravan tried hard not to look too annoyed. He'd reequipped out of his armor and hadn't even put his bandanna back around his mouth. The moisture in the air felt suffocating and he just kept staring at the fire burning on his torch, wondering how out of all the scenarios that could have possibly played out, he wound up with Locke. Fucking Locke.

Every single second of the job had been spent making him regret taking it.

As the other guy stewed though, Locke just worried, as he frequently did. Haven and Navi could produce their own light, sure, so they weren't, like, wandering about in the dark or anything. And they were competent, fine, as mages. They worked well together. They were fine. Definitely. Just…

They shouldn't have gotten split up. Haven had a horrible habit of overestimating herself and Navi had a worse one of being able to stand up for herself. He had to be there. To balance them out.

"What are we gonna do?" Locke finally broached to Ravan who only snorted in reply. "I'm serious. Do you have a plan? Because I don't. Are we just going to sit here for the rest of forever and just hope that they find us?"

"Haven," Ravan grumbled as he glared off, "isn't going to be looking for us."

"What do you mean?"

"She's going to go on ahead," the other guy explained. "You don't think so? I do. It's what she and I would do, if we got separated from you and Navi. She tried to do it before, in the forest. She thinks that we've been holding her up this entire time. Navi too. Haven wants the treasure or whatever. And to say she completed an S-Class job mostly alone. If we want to see her, we have to get to the temple. Or back to the gate, to wait for her when she's finished."

Locke didn't appreciate this cut and dry approach to the mentality of his best friend, but he had no rebuttal, really, because it was the truth. She liked to be with the others, out on jobs, but the closer they got to the end, the more likely she was to try and capture the glory for herself. It was kind of her thing.

It was also one of the shittier qualities she had.

"We can't get to the temple," Locke replied instead.

"What do you mean?"

"Look around." He gestured with the hand holding the torch. "We only ever knew where it was because Haven lit up the sky for us to see it. I'm so turned around, I have no fucking idea which direction it was in. Or what direction we're in. This damn fog-"

"It's your fucking fault."

"My fault?"

Ravan wasn't looking at him though. "If you and stupid Navi hadn't come, then Haven and I-"

"What is with you," Locke complained as he got to his feet then because he could feel it, they both could. They'd been interrupted before, but the tension had never dissipated. "And wanting to be alone with my girlfriend, Ravan? It's fucking weird."

He got to his feet as well, Ravan did. "Why do I want to be alone with my friend on a trip I asked her to go on? And not you or stupid Navi? That I put my neck on the line to get?"

"You stole," Locke corrected. "From Haven's little sister. Who could be getting in huge trouble over that right now. Stop acting like you did some sort of courageous thing; you tricked Marin. Fucking Marin. Wow. Amazing. Feel extra smart then, did you?"

"Shut up, Locke."

"You shut up."

"Haven's not your friend." He'd wanted to say this for so fucking long to Ravan. Too long, really. Years. But Haven never wanted him to. She never really addressed the issue at all. What she and Ravan were. But clearly, the other guy thought they were friends which meant that it was up to Locke to inform him that, no, these past few years hadn't been spent that way. In friendship. Rather, it was something different. "Haven's my friend. She's Navi's friends. Haven uses you, just like she uses everyone else. What does she do? Go to you when she's mad at me. Always. When she's not, she doesn't even think about you. You get that, don't you, Ravan? She might be your only friend, but you're not even close to that for her. So if I told Haven to never talk to you again-"

"It's not that way," Ravan interrupted him, "and you know it."

"It is."

"You think you're special? Haven uses you just as much."

"Shut up."

"You're just mad because Haven and I understand one another. We get it."

"Get what?"

But Ravan couldn't explain it. Not to him, at least. Maybe not even to Haven. It had always been there though, right under the surface, between the two of them. It was different than whatever the fuck was going on with her and Locke (a gross relationship, actually, was exactly what he saw as going on). It was why they couldn't stand one another for so long. They saw the world so similarly, felt all the same, intense emotions about things, all at once that, when they were younger, they were off just an inch. Just enough that it threw everything off. They'd connected though and now, on the same path, they understood one another so well.

Locke was Haven's stupid punching bag. He put himself in harms way time after time for Haven to never return the favor or even thank him. And why? What did he get out of it? Well, Ravan didn't really want to speculate on it, but whatever it was, it wasn't worth it. No way. Locke really thought that Haven cared about him. Enough so that he came to Ravan talking about being used. When he couldn't even see it. How much he was as well.

"You wouldn't," Ravan sneered to the other guy in reply, "understand."

And Locke didn't. Understand. At all. Why Haven had to hang around him so much, why she seemed alright with Ravan in those days. Ravan was an asshole who, really, seemed to want to be alone. Be better off alone. So why couldn't Haven just leave him alone? She had to just feel bad for him, at first, Locke always figured. It was rare to get her to feel that about something (even her worst deeds), but Ravan was so pathetically alone, that yeah, that could be it. She felt bad and now was just stuck with him. Which she used to her advantage. Like Haven did everything. It made sense. It all made sense. But…

Why did it bother Locke so much?

Probably just because he hated the other guy. For good reason. Even Ravan would have to admit that Locke had good reason. On top of their impossible beginnings though, Ravan had only become even more of an ass, if it were possible, in the past year towards Locke. He seemed to hate that Haven was dating the older guy just as much as Locke hated she was friends with the other. It was always going to end up this way.

Always.

And when Locke moved to strike the other guy, it was with no magic behind it. And Ravan didn't reequip. No. They were fighting an honest fight then for a prize that, honestly, they were pretty sure purposely ditched them in a lost town, so she could go off and be claimed the victor without them, in a game she seemed to only be playing with herself.

And while Haven't hadn't ditched them intentionally, as she and Navi continued on, together, towards the temple, she was glad to find, when she'd light up the sky occasionally, that it was growing ever closer. The boys had been detrimental to it, apparently, and if that were true, she was glad to be rid of them.

Had she known that they were fighting over her (if that's what hey were really doing; it felt more like ego than anything else), she'd have been just as disinterested in it as she'd been in the forest. Locke and Ravan were fine how they were, she always felt, separated save the few times she saw to it that they all went on a job together, ignoring their hatred of one another because her desire to all be together was more important than either of their feelings.

Haven was selfish, but always open about it.

Navi wasn't nearly as excited though as they approached the temple. Haven was all jittery, the Dragneel girl could tell, as they held hands as to not be separated and though their pace slowed, Haven kept shaking her hand just slightly. Adrenaline.

"Do you think it will be that easy?" Navi asked as she left her free hand aglow, lighting their way. "Haven? To get in? Or do you think there will be a puzzle or-"

"Is your dad Natsu or not?"

"What?"

"You can just bust your way in there, right?"

Navi frowned over at her. "That really doesn't sound like a good idea-"

"We'll see when we get up there."

"I mean, I'm not breaking anything, at least not on purposely, so-"

But Haven dropped her hand then, so that she could light up the sky once more, and they were right there. Close enough that, a few more steps and Navi's light was enough to illuminate just the part of the temple they stood in front of. They were standing right before the long set of steps that led up to the top of the layered temple.

Fate, Haven felt.

But not a good one, Navi would have argued.

"Do you think the boys are okay?" Navi asked as they started the long trek up the steps. "Haven?"

"What's the worse that could be happening to them?" Haven didn't wanna dwell on it. "They can beat any monster or enemy or whatever they're doing. You have to focus on us now, Navi. They can look after themselves."

Well, sure. When they weren't beating the sludge out of one another.

Still, Navi had more than checked upon them first getting separated if her tracking magic would assist them. She'd developed it years ago, in an attempt to mimic her father's scent abilities, and usually left markers on all the others. So she could find them if something horrible happened out on a job. But the fog made it impossible to follow cleanly and Haven kept insisting that they go on. If she wasn't with Haven, Navi probably would have tried harder, but…

The job was for Haven, after all. Ravan had gotten it as a birthday present for the girl. Though it wasn't the reason that Navi accompanied, she no longer felt strongly about what originally drew her to the job in the first place. No. Now she was there merely because she was too afraid to back down, to head back home alone, and, well, she'd have preferred to be with the boys then, honestly, but she wasn't. She was with Haven, so she was stuck completing the job. No matter what.

"What do you think the treasure is? At the end? Haven?"

It was a long ascent up and though she usually wasn't one for distractions, this provided an excellent time for her to gloat on herself.

"Who knows?" she remarked with a shrug. "But the guys get none of it."

They had, after all, been of no help. None. At all. She was sure of it.

"Maybe it will be new spells." Navi wasn't sure how this would work, but she was enthused by the idea, at least. "Like lost spell books or something, do you think, Haven? Hopefully something to do with fire magic for me."

"As long as it's something," Haven assured the other girl, "then it's fine with me."

"I'm just glad that it's all coming together," Navi went on. "I kinda need to get back home. My dad… I don't think he'll be too happy that I..."

"Well, you shouldn't steal." Haven hadn't spoken to the girl before about the garment hanging around her neck, but felt like then was as good as time as ever. "For one thing."

"We're on a stolen job, Haven."

"Ravan did that. Not me." Which meant her morals still checked out. Yes. "Besides, doesn't your dad have, like, crippling depression or something? If he isn't wearing that thing? Will he even be able to get out of bed without it?"

"I don't think it's that serious."

"Well," Haven offered with a slight shrug, "you know him better than me."

But now Haven had put the idea in her head and, well, Navi was regretting her treachery even more. It was already out of the blonde's head as, honestly, short of taking note of the scarf issue, Haven had hardly given it any mind the entire time anyways. Navi made a lot of dumb decisions that Haven didn't understand. Like spending her days not going out on dangerous jobs.

She was panting though, Navi was, when they finally made it to the top and Haven had to pretend like he wasn't winded in the slightest because she had to look stronger than Navi, of course. Still, as the younger girl took deep breaths with her hands on her knees, Haven only turned to look out over the darkness spread before them. Lighting up the sky one last time, Haven took stock of the view in the quickest of glimpses. It felt abstract, really, the whole job had, but standing there felt almost like a dream.

Whatever was waiting for them in the temple, she had a feeling it would be rather intense.

"We should rest," she finally gave in to Navi who'd already taken to sitting anyways. "It's been a while, hasn't it? Since we did that? It feels like it's been a day, but I'm not tired like it has. Are you?"

"I'm not even hungry," Navi whispered though, still, as they sat down on the top step, she opened her knapsack and pulled out a tin of biscuits. Passing them to the older girl, she added, "But I guess we should eat something."

With a nod, Haven added, "It'll take a lot of strength, I guess, to gain strength."

"And knowledge."

But Haven wasn't nearly as interested in that one.

It was pitch black inside the temple. No torches, even, awaited them at it's entrance., However they'd gotten there, they were expected to continue on. Which was fine for the pair as, this time, Haven took over, sparks jumping from her body as she lit up all around them.

"Guess it's a good thing we left the guys with the torch," Navi whispered. "So long as we don't run out of magic, I mean."

"Don't," Haven griped, "even talk about something like that."

Ever.

Navi worried though as the entrance seemed to just be a long sloped hall, down into the depths of the temple, about just when it would get complex. At the end of the slope, when there was an option to go one way or the other, she produced a notebook from her bag and a pen.

"I'll kind of map it out," she explained to the distnat Haven. "So we don't get lost."

But the girl only looked down each dark path, uncertain of which to take. Right or left. Right or left.

"Left," she decided. "Because that's the opposite of right. And if you chose the right just because it was right, then it would probably be a trap."

"I don't think-"

"Left, Navi."

Who could argue with such solid deductions? Or at least the commanding voice that dictated them.

The next path, Haven chose right because it was the opposite of left and Navi was really wishing then not only to be home as, apparently, this was not an option, to at least be with Locke who could maybe offer some sort of insight beyond which option is the opposite than the other.

It was a tedious task that led to many dead ends and many enemies. Still, nothing they encountered particularly challenging for the pair. Though Navi wasn't as much of a practicing mage in those days, she had spent the majority of her childhood training under one of the top wizards around. And Haven had never stopped hers. It would take a lot to best the girls.

Still, what Navi said did worry Haven somewhat. On top of worrying about her body absorbing magical power at an adequate rate, the lightning mage also had to be concerned with just how much static she had to absorb in the confines of the temple. If she expelled too much, fine, she would still have magical power, but if she had nothing to discharge…

"It's alright, Haven." Navi didn't have to rely on that for fire. All she needed was an original source and then she could keep it pretty steadily going for a long period of time. Just in case, she always made sure to keep a pack of matches in her pack. "I can light the rest of the way."

Haven, who hadn't really wanted to share this fear, just nodded along. It was for the best.

Time felt like it dragged even more in the endless maze of the temple. At least out in the city, with the guys, there seemed to be a constant stream of conversation, even if it was just arguing. Navi was pretty docile towards Haven for the most part, so she wouldn't argue with her outright. Moreover, the two girls hardly had anything real to talk about for the most part anyways. Not only did their current interests not intersect, but each also struggled to pretend for the benefit of the other. Navi tried once to broach the one thing that they kind of had in common, Locke, but that was pretty awkward, honestly. Navi didn't hate that the two were dating, but at the same time, it changed an already crumbling dynamic, making it difficult for Navi to enjoy it too much.

Plus…

It was just a weird thing for her. To see. Locke, yeah, he was always trying to date the girls around Magnolia and that was normal. But Haven wasn't...really… Navi didn't know how to explain it, but the idea of Haven doing anything other than being a total bitch or training or being out on a job or, maybe, a combination of the three, was a real mind fuck.

Even a year out, Navi just kind of tried to ignore the new three's a crowd vibe she got around them. And honestly, relationship or not, it had always kind of been that way, anyways.

"There has to be," Haven did say, eventually, as Navi was glad for something to speak on, "some sort of a trick. To get through here."

"You mean," Navi whispered under her breath, "going opposite to what you think would be the right answer isn't a good game plan?"

"Shut up, Navi."

"I'm just saying-"

"Well, now I'm the one saying it wasn't the right idea, okay?" Gosh. Why did they all make it so hard for her to admit it? When she was wrong? Then get pissy when she didn't do it often? "And what other option was there, Navi? I didn't see you offering up any ideas."

Mostly because she hadn't been asked.

Still, Navi only bowed her head some as they stood there, in the passage way, close to one another as only the younger girl's fist gave off any light. "Every other riddle hasn't been a riddle at all."

"What do you mean?"

"Locke and I thought that the only reason we got to this place, this...town was because of the magical energy that he and Ravan expelled," Navi explained. "It was a lot."

"Yeah, I heard that. But-"

"But I was thinking," Navi kept on knowing that if she let Haven have even an inch, she'd never get out her thoughts. Not fully. "Do you remember before that? Before we got here? You kept insisting that we had to be lost, remember, to find it? And maybe we did. Have to be lost. Because the one thing that the client told us to be sure of was that we took the torches. Remember? At the beginning? He said that people who took the torches made it out, but those who didn't… And what if that's part of it? Locke and Ravan had the torches, Haven, so when all of us were together, we couldn't get anywhere. Because we just kept looping, remember? When we lost them though-"

"We could proceed."

Nodding, the other girl was almost ecstatic as she said, "We had to be lost. The spell or...whatever doesn't account for what we have. Magic that we can see by. And I bet anyone who got lost in here, without a torch, didn't have any either. So they never were able to do it. Get to the temple, get through it, find the treasure, and get out. They really were lost. But we're not lost. Not completely. We have an upperhand. As long as we can see, we can do it. Get the treasure and get back to the guys."

For a moment, Haven let her have it. Her excitement. Then, with her typical blank expression, she said, "That's great, Navi, but how does that help with the maze?"

"Huh?"

"The maze," Haven insisted. "How do we get through this part? In the temple? I mean, yay, great for you, you figured the other stuff out, but I really don't care about how we got through that. I'm sort of focused on this, now."

Navi blinked. Then her face fell and she deflated.

"I...I guess I haven't figured it all out yet," she admitted softly. "I like I said before, we only solved each thing after it was already, well, solved. So-"

"It's okay."

Navi blinked as Haven reached out to pat her on the shoulder though the older girl was just as quickly moving to snatch the map from her hand.

"Let's get back to the entrance," Haven suggested as she turned the notebook every which way. "Do you, uh, think you can figure out how to get back there? Because-"

"Yeah." Navi even paused to nod as she moved to take the paper back. "I can at least do that."

It had certainly been longer than a day by the point they eventually found themselves at the entrance to the maze. Haven knew they should be tired, desperately so, but she could feel none of it. She didn't exactly feel refreshed, but her body wasn't crying out for rest either. They were a bit beat up from the fights they'd been in, but nothing too painful. Time really was worthless in the nameless town.

"What do you think we should do?" Navi whispered when they made it there, back to the slope. "Go back out? Or-"

"I dunno. I just..." Suddenly, she looked up to the girl and, reaching out, she took Navi's arm. "Stop your fire."

"Huh?"

"Extinguish it. Whatever. Just turn it off." The terminology escaped the blonde. "Now. We won't get separated. I have your arm."

She looked concerned for a moment, Navi did, but then Haven could see nothing other than the darkness that surrounded them. It felt like a shock, even with preparation for it, and she found herself closing and shutting her eyes a few times involuntarily. But as she focused, still gripping tightly to Navi's arm, she saw it. What she expected.

"Look," she whispered softly, "to the right."

It felt like her eyes were straining heavily, Navi's did, and she got a headache just from trying to figure out what it was, but it was feint. There though.

"A light," Navi whispered as they down the tunnel.

"Somewhere," Haven agreed softly. "If someone made it all the way here, in the darkness, they would see it and go to it."

"The treasure?"

"Let's," Haven said as she began to drag the other girl that way then, "find out."

The silence felt tense then as they went on, following on, towards the light. Somehow though, they felt less loss, with a real destination in mind, than they had before, when they seemed to be just going off whichever direction Haven chose to travel in that exact moment. Still, there was something terrifying about the darkness. Navi had never been afraid of it before. Not even as a child. Because with a flick of her father's fingers, it would all just be gone. Then, soon enough, a flick of her own.

But Haven didn't want to lose the light that only seemed to grow easier to see with each turn of a passageway. Navi kept expecting more monsters to jump out at them, forcing the use of their magic, but this didn't occur. Apparently, going left was what led to the bastards.

Opposite wasn't always the safest of bets, is seemed.

It was a room that was producing the light, at the end of a long corridor. It was lit up with torches hung on it's wall and, in the center of it, a closed chest set. But with no lock.

"This job was too easy," Haven was snickering as they entered the room and she went to kick open the chest. Navi only glanced about the mostly barren room, cautious. "Too fucking easy. S-Class my ass. I swear, if we get in trouble for this, then that whole guild is a joke. I-"

"Haven, no!"

But it was too late. The blonde had kicked the chest open to reveal...nothing and, as she stared down in shock at this Navi noticed, first, a slight tremor in ground, taking note of how the torch across from her nearly fell out of it's holder.

What was a temple without a booby trap? One Navi wished they were in then as the floor crumbled beneath their feet, the bricks falling down into the abyss they were soon tumbling down into as well.

It had never happened to her before. Falling. Not really. From the time she was a little kid, she learned no matter how high it was, the thing she jumped off of, one of two things would happen. Either her father would catch her or Happy would snag her. Distance was irrelevant. She jumped, once, as a dare from Haven and Locke, off the balcony of the guildhall. It was her own fault, she'd been the one to insist she'd be fine.

She was too. Happy just happened to be following Wendy and Carla out the guildhall doors and was right there, to snatch her up. It got her in massive trouble, of course, with her parents, as she very easily could have broken something, if not worse, but it didn't matter. It only reconfirmed her theory.

They would always catch her. Her father and Happy. No matter what.

But they weren't there and the fall felt like it was long and the only thing she could focus on, at all, was the distance the torches seemed above them as they fell down, down, down, further and further away.

She was in grabbing distance of Haven, Navi was, and as she grasped the other girl's hand with one free one, Haven reached with the other not up, towards what they were falling away from, but rather out, towards the wall of the space they were falling down into. She was afraid she'd come up with nothing, but this wasn't the case. As her finger tips burned from running across the bumpy surface, she suddenly it it. A little edge. Not much. Just enough for her fingers to clamp down onto it, holding on.

"Arg!" Haven yelled as the weight of it hit her. Navi's. And her own. The hand holding the other girl felt like it was being ripped out of it's socket, but that had nothing on the one that was supporting both their weights by literal inches.

"Hold on," Navi ordered and if Haven wasn't gritting her teeth through the pain, she might have snarked something back. But that's not what Navi meant. Not literal. Rather, she shot flames then, from her free hand, all about, illuminating the area for a moment. "I think we fell beneath the temple."

Haven could hardly move her head around to glance, but she was glad for what she could. As the embers of Navi's bursts died, she could see in the weak light that they were in some sort of cavern, no doubt, like the other girl had said, beneath the temple. A pit, maybe, even. Whatever it was though, the drop was rather far down, it looked like, but Haven hardly focused on that. How could she? When she glanced over her shoulder, she saw it. Across from them was another long wall of the cavern, just far enough that, had they fallen at more of an angle, they might have slammed into it on their descent. But that wasn't what interested her. No. The other cavern wall had a tunnel or cave or something that ended in the pitfall they were currently dangling in.

"Light up," Haven got around her gritted teeth, "the cavern again. Navi."

The younger girl did so. Haven knew then, what had to happen. If they were going to get out of that position.

"We're gonna have to," she grunted out, "get to that. The tunnel. It's the only way."

"But how?"

She didn't know, honestly. How do you propel yourself backwards? She wished for Locke. Not only would he know, but with his iron magic, maybe he could figure something out. To hold them to the wall, at least, until they figured out what to do. Navi wished, as she had been for the entire day, her father. And Happy. The same faith Haven had in Locke, she always found in them.

It was too much. Too hopeless. Haven wasn't sure if she let go or Navi just slipped away, but suddenly, her attention was on the fact the girl's hand was gone from hers and Navi was falling again. But even in the slowly creeping back darkness as Navi's fire fled once more, Haven was able, on instinct, to grasp it. The end of the white scarf as it floated by. This hurt just as much and probably would have choked Navi had it not begun to unravel at just the right moment and, as she fell away from the scarf as well, Navi was able to grab the end of it.

"Shit," Haven breathed as she glanced down. "Nav-"

"I'm alright. I just- I don't think that the scarf will hold up, you know. It might, like fray! And then… Haven, I don't think I can survive the fall!"

Neither of them could.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Her fingers were burning, the ones holding onto the cliff and if she let go, if she slipped on there…

"Light up," Haven growled again. "One more time."

That time, instead of focusing on the cave behind them, she looked to each side, Haven did, of her. There had to be…

"There," she breathed to Navi, "is a ledge."

"A what?"

"Just a little one," Haven kept up. "I think, with the scarf, I can swing you some and you can reach for it. To the right. On our side. I can't hold you much longer."

"But if I miss-"

"It's happening one way or another."

There wasn't a lot of time for debate, honestly. None at all. As Haven began to slowly swing her hand back and forth, they could only pray that not only the scarf held, but that they both were able to hold onto it as well.

"You have," Haven gasped through her pain as it was excruciating, trying to swing someone of equal size as her, by a scarf while dangling from a cliff side, "to let go, Navi."

She didn't want to. But she had something of momentum then, maybe. She had to swing to the side, let go of the scarf, and grab the ledge a good few feet away. Right. Yes. She could do that. She just...she…

She let go,. Of the her father's scarf. She fell some, of course, but the sideways momentum was enough to carry her the short distance that, with both hands, she was able to grab the other rocky indent, right below Haven.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Navi panted though she wasn't sure if this was from fear or exertion. Probably both. "I have a grip. I...I think I can hold on for a bit."

"You might have to."

With her free hand, Haven brought the scarf up, resting it on her shoulder as she let out a long breath. It felt like the hard part was over, but far from it.

"We're suppose," she reminded Navi then, "to do this in the dark. That's how we got there. To the trap. But in the dark, what can you see? In here?"

"I can't see anything," Navi called up to her.

"Neither can I."

"Then-"

"Shhh." Haven was hardly breathing then. "Stay still."

As if she had a lot of room to move, there, dangling from the side of a cliff.

That tunnel. Behind them. There had to be some way to get to it. It was the only thing Haven could think of. But how could they be expected to recognize it in the darkness? She'd cheated with the light, to know it was there, but this was all supposed to be done in darkness. How-

"I'm slipping," Navi called up to her. "Haven, I can feel-"

"Just calm down. Take a breath."

She was trying, but it was difficult. Navi had never felt it before, a fear of falling, and she was finding it to be rather intense. Fighting monsters and battling bandits was one thing. That was normal. She could fight back from that. If she fell, whatever was waiting for her, down there, that was it. That was all.

"Haven-"

"Did you hear it?" the older girl asked. "When the bricks crumbled, did you hear how far they fell?"

"What?"

"They didn't fall for very long," Haven kept up. "And did you even look down? When you lit up the area? It won't kill you."

There was a lot more to be afraid of though, than just death. For Navi at least.

"So," the blonde finished, "you're fine. Now shut up. Let me think."

It was as she thought that Haven considered something. The light. From before. Above them. The torches still sat, after all, in their holders above and when she titled her head just right, she could see straight up there. Above.

Of course.

Before, with the light, she'd been so focused on just getting Navi off her arm before she dragged them both down that she never looked there. Above. They'd fallen quite a bit and it wasn't helpful to their surroundings, before, to gaze up. She never thought they'd make it back there.

"But if we could," she growled through gritted teeth as she reached about with her free hand, attempting to find another ledge. Something. Something to keep pulling herself up on. Anything. "Get back there. We could try again."

"Be careful," Navi warned softly because she was still panicking just from hanging. Climbing, or whatever Haven was gonna do, just wasn't for her.

"I don't have to be."

"What do you mean?"

"Navi, you're gonna get really mad at me."

"Haven-"

"But I've been working a spell. And I know that, in that tunnel over there, somehow, if I hadn't activated the trap like that, maybe there was a way to get to it. That's where the treasure is. And-"

"Haven, don't-"

"You can climb up, I think," the older girl decided. It was why she hung around so long. To figure a way for Navi. "Up or down, maybe, but I'd try up. I can feel, like, indents in the wall? I think that's the point. The whole temple has been to follow the light. You can keep going up. From there, wait for me. Or hang. I'll come back for you when I can."

She called after her, Navi did, but Haven didn't care anymore. Her grip was slipping and she didn't want to go through it. Climbing up. Not when she had a much simpler method of transportation at her disposal.

Laxus refused to teach her it. Lightning body magic. He didn't think she'd be able to do it. Or would fuck it up somehow. It was a complex spell that he'd spent years studying, he said, and had more to do with his lacrima than anything else and she wasn't part of it. Electricity. Not the way he was. And she knew that was true enough, but there was nothing more she ever wanted to learn than how to literally become a bolt and travel wherever she wanted.

Locke helped her with it. Find out more about it. Study and master the spell. Well, master was a very loose word, but it got her across the pit, at least, to the ledge of the tunnel. As Navi called out her complaints, Haven only assured her, "I'll be back. If you don't make it up by then, well, maybe I'll have a plan instead."

"Haven-"

"Calm down." She even sounded sincere. "I won't be gone long."

But it felt like forever for Navi, who only hung there, tears welling in her eyes. She did that a lot, cry, and though it was probably the worst moment of the entire outing to do so, she had yet to get a good one out and the tears seemed to have built up over...however long it had been.

How long had it been?

Too long.

But she couldn't then. There. Cry. And about what? Because Haven had ditched her? This outcome was so obvious that Navi hated herself for not seeing it sooner. Before, when she was unsure, Haven clung to her arm and led her through the temple. Because she needed her. But now she thought she was there, to the end, and she didn't any longer. So she wanted Navi to stay behind, stay safe, sure, fine, maybe, but just out of her way.

So she could go save the day.

Only there was no saving anything. Not on this job. Haven wasn't in a time crunch. She had no limit, no expectations. She wanted a prize and was willing to leave Navi hanging there, in the darkness, with either a sharp fall to await her or a long climb upwards to save her.

Navi never liked Haven. Not really. Even when they were kids. Friends of convenience. But it was in times like that, when Navi found herself duped by the other girl, left by her, that she realized just how much their friendship was actually inconvenient.

"Maybe" she grumbled to herself as she found herself making the very slow, methodical, weepy trek up the wall, "we just shouldn't be friends anymore."

It felt childish and stupid to be making such a proclamation, but she was serious. All the time she spent worrying about how her father treated her like trash and one of her supposed to be oldest friends was doing her far dirtier.

But Haven didn't see it that way. At all. Whatever she found was definitely still Navi's too. Just not Locke or Ravan's. No, she'd share with Navi. No matter what. The other girl had to understand, time might not be of the essence, but there was still no reason to waste it. At best, Haven could climb the wall and then, still powerless to the situation, wait for Navi to catch up. But why? Huh? Why would she do that? When Navi could do her part of the mission, you know, getting back to safety, while Haven went on ahead.

She didn't feel like she'd left the other girl. Just continued on in her absence. That was all. If she were stuck somewhere and Navi had a chance at completing the job, sure, she'd be pissy that it wasn't her getting to do whatever the deed was, but she could hardly blame Navi for seizing the opportunity.

Haven refused her desire to light up then, as she walked through the silent tunnel. She could hear a dripping, distantly. Moisture. They really weren't in the temple any longer. It must have been built upon some sort of cave system. Maybe. Haven still wasn't sure if the whole thing wasn't an illusion, honestly, of some sort. A magic spell.

Only darkness welcomed her then. No light. She followed along the straight path until, suddenly, it ended just as soon as it had begun. A wall, a man-made brick wall, was before her and that was it. Nothing else. At all. Impossible.

Well, not really, Not exactly. She'd only theorized that the tunnel was significant. In fact, she had no reason to believe it was anything of the sort. Maybe once she kicked open the chest, they were supposed to fall to their deaths. Her getting lucky and putting an end to this was just that; luck.

But Haven didn't believe in luck.

Luck was just unexplained fate. There was a reason she was there. At that tunnel. In that temple. Beneath that temple.

It had worked before, out in the pit, running her hands along the wall, and she did that then, to the bricks, hoping for something. Anything. Like one of those dumb books from when she was a kid. You press a magic spot and the wall swivels around to reveal the secret lair. Something cool like that. But it wasn't he case, of course and, glancing in the darkness down at her shoulder, she could feel it there, still.

The Salamander's scarf.

What would he do?

The tunnel lit up brilliantly as Haven smashed her electric fist into the wall. Fuck the puzzle. Fuck it all. Locke could explain it to her later, when she told him about it. They clearly were missing the key, the whole fucking time. And when you lose the key to a cipher, you just punch your way through it, right?

Maybe.

Haven wasn't too sure how code breaking worked. But breaking in general, well, she was a Fairy Tail wizard, after all.

It wasn't what she'd been hoping. Some sort of spell book or magic potion. Nothing was waiting for her on the other side except for another wall. The real wall. The end of the tunnel. She would have felt defeated, Haven would have, had, given the light her fist gave off, she didn't see it dangling there. Someone had hammered a nail into the stone and, dangling from it by a tied thread was a scroll.

In the rules of whatever stupid game the mission was becoming, she figured she'd probably had had to have gotten back to the other room. With the fake chest. After figuring that puzzle, which would have led her to the tunnel rather than collapsing the entire room, she could have read by the torch light what was written there. But she didn't need to. No. She had her lightning there to aid her vision and, as she read over it, Haven couldn't help it.

She actually grinned.

"Navi!" She turned quickly, running back down the tunnel with little abandon or notice as to what materialized in the darkness her light left. "Hurry and get to the top! I have something to show you."


	7. Chapter 7

It was a bit dreary out that day and not nearly as busy as the one before. Mirajane felt tired from the time she got down to the bar to find Marin and Kai, as expect, were more than made up and actually he was inside for once, helping her tack up jobs. She called hello to the kids and offered them breakfast, but they only shook their heads at her before they went back to whispering about whatever it was the two of them found worthwhile.

Mira found she rarely had to worry about them Marin and Kai. Though they were arguing before (or whatever was going on before), just like she'd assured her daughter, they were right back to what they always were. Always had been. Always would be. It was comforting, in a way, to Mira. Haven's adolescence had been a constant stream of uncertainty, but Marin's only provided balance and stability. She woke up early each morning, worked the bar most of the day, and then would spend the evenings she had off either down by the river, with Kai, fishing, or at his home with Erza, annoying the swordswoman. Her off days either involved babysitting Ajax, the twins, or a combination along with a steady amount of time with her aunts and uncles. Short of her frequent bouts of illness early on, Marin was pretty hassle free. Which helped, considering Mira and Laxus spent so much attention on Haven and her hassles.

She didn't feel like she could think about anything else, Mira didn't, as she half-heatedly started on cooking duties for the day. Her sister came in, eventually, with Ajax and the twins, begging Mira to just let them run around the hall while she went to the market, without them, because they were nightmares there, and Mira only ushered Lisanna on.

"You guys can behave, can't you? For me?" Mira asked and all three nodded, but their typical devious eyes were quite deceptive. Rainy days meant no outside time which meant pent up energy which also meant little to no chance of her request happening. But Mira hardly cared for the twins and her nephew's antics. Laxus was out also which no one was there to scream at them for hanging off the upstairs balcony and spitting down loogies at people.

"This," Evergreen growled as when she showed up and had the misfortune of it happening, "will not stand!"

She eventually snatched Ajax and one twin up by the ear, Lucky escaping, and drug them to the barmaid.

"Do something," Mira's practical sister-in-law complained as the boys only griped, "about your children."

Mira was usually pretty great at that. Reigning the children in. But she'd just had that...feeling since she'd woken up. Worry, probably, she decided, since Laxus still had given her no contact or confirmation. Not that he needed to, when he was out conducting guild business, but he usually did. He didn't when they were younger though and he'd go out on jobs. But… This had to do with their daughter. And her safety. Mira would just like some sort of showing that yeah, everything was going fine. That she wasn't needed.

"You need," Evergreen was going on, "to do something about them. Now."

"Come on, boys," she sighed as the woman of stone released them into her custody. "And Lucky! We're going somewhere."

They were actually pretty nervous, the boys all were. Ajax knew better than anyone just how harsh Aunt Mira was with her finger wags.

But she only led them down to the book room which was drafty and gross. As Iggy eyed in concern the huge hairy spider that definitely was lurking in one corner and he knew his brother would definitely note as well and throw on him at some point, Mira only made the boys all sit down at a table together.

"What are you gonna make us do?" Ajax whispered. "Aunt Mira?"

But she only went to pull some books off the shelf and set them down on the table.

"Read," she said through a sigh, "from these. For an hour. I'll be back later to make sure you did it."

"That's it?" Lucky ventured. When he got a glare from the others, he added, "I'm okay with it being it, but-"

"Just," she reiterated, "stay down here. All of you. Until Lisanna comes back for you."

Which at least got rid of them for awhile. She had a sinking feeling that her sister was doing a bit more than just going to the market (it was torrential; Lisanna could at least try with her lies) and probably just wanted rid of the kids for a bit. Mira had a hard time being mad though as, under normal circumstances, she would jump at the chance at having all three of them. Her nephew and the twins spent a good chunk of their days around the barmaid.

But she just wasn't herself that day.

Which is why she couldn't even put on, not really, for Marin and Kai when they approached her with something.

The rain meant it was slow that day and Mira took her break as soon as Kinana came on. There was really a surplus of people on staff that day, Mira felt, so she didn't make too much of a complaint when the two teens approached the table she was having a quick bite to eat at.

"Can we talk to you about something?" Marin asked with her eyes all big and blue. "Mom?"

"Mmmhmm." She was glancing between them then, Mirajane was, noting Kai's also rather serious look. "Did something happen?"

"W-Well," Marin started shakily, always, "nothing bad, not really, but Kai wanted to talk to you about something and-"

Mira's eyes drifted from them though, as the guildhall doors were opened. She hoped it was her husband and the others though, of course, given she would feel the immense magical energy that would entail, but still, she was a bit disappointed to find it was only Shadow Gear returning from their job.

Just as quickly, her eyes were widening because Levy was all smiles and had no idea. How could she? Everyone knew the kids all took off on a job, which was no big deal, and part of why Levy took off on her own, probably on a day later. Just narrowly missing out on the big stink Laxus had caused in the guildhall.

She could feel Mira's eyes, it seemed, and as Droy and Jet headed right over to the bar to order some food, she only came to grin over at the other woman.

"Hey, Mira," she greeted, "have you seen Gajeel? Or Locke?"

That brought Kai out of his serious look as he couldn't help it. He giggled into his palm while Marin only paled. Mirajane though just sighed as she rose.

"Ravan," she said with a shake of her head, "stole the job they all went out on from the back room. It was an S-Class job. Your husband and mine have gone off to go retrieve them. And some others as well."

"What? Locke wouldn't-"

"It's alright," Mira reassured her though, as the days had only dragged on, she felt less of that assurance herself. "They're probably just having a bit of trouble locating them. The kids went out on some sort of quest for… What was it, Marin?"

"A town," she answered her mother though she was looking down at the table then, remorseful over her own dealings in the entire fiasco, "with no name."

"Like the legend?" Levy asked, almost on command, and Mira only frowned.

"The legend?"

The women went back down to the book room together, leaving the two teens to, once more, work up the courage to broach the subject at hand with an adult. They found the boys down there had found a better use of their time. Reading was pretty lame, after all, and it made much more sent to make a game of who could jump from table to table the best as they only furthered the distance each time. At the sight of Mirajane, they all tried to scramble to their seats, but she only told them to scram in general.

"Go find Marin and Kai," she ordered with a sigh. "Have Marin give you something to do."

As long as it wasn't reading or getting a finger wag, they were pretty content with whatever.

"It's been so long since I've looked at it," Levy was sighing as she ran her finger across the spines of books, stacked on their shelves, "so I can't remember if I read it here or from my library at home. It was in some sort of...old spooks and haunts type book, you know? Legends, I guess, of a local area. But I remember that. The town with no name. It stuck out to me."

"They're in Incidio," Mira offered as she stood by. "If that helps."

It didn't. Because it was on the Professor that had tracked the town tot hat location. Rather, Levy found what she was looking for in a thick tome covering the different folklore and legends of Fiore as a whole. It was rather cumbersome, finding the story, even with the index, but once they did, the two women only sat together, glancing over it as Levy read aloud.

"'Woe is the man,'" she began as her finger traced along with the text, "'who finds himself here. Trapped in thick fog and isolation, the town with no name has haunted many a traveler in its days. An ancient magic once cast upon a deserted town, it is said to appear to those lost near it's entrance. Upon beckoning it forth, the wanderer will be presented with a desolate village inside of which they are to wander in darkness or tour in light. There is said to be a treasure, buried deep in the ruins of a forgotten temple. But none who have entered, have ever returned to tell the tale. If luck should find you, lost in a woods, with only a deserted town to offer you shelter, one must ask themselves; is it worth the risk? To enter the town with no name?'"

As she finished, Levy glanced up at Mira whose eyes still traced the page. To the other woman, she said, "It scared me, when I was young, when we used to all go on jobs all about Fiore. Now I remember why I was so frightened. I was convinced if Jet, Droy, and I got lost out there, we might end up in the town."

"It sounds," Mira sighed, softly, "as if it is merely a fable."

"Who made the request?"

"I cannot be sure," the barmaid replied. "I imagine someone who wanted their hands on the treasure in the temple."

"You're sure that this is the job the kids went on though?"

"Almost positive."

She let out her own sigh then, Levy did, as she shook her head some. "I guess that Laxus is pretty upset, huh?"

"He and Gajeel almost came to blows over it. And then Erza-"

"Laxus isn't a fan of Locke, I guess, in these days."

"Well."

"Well," Levy agreed, but they both laughed, the women did, and Mira felt a bit better, having someone to commiserate with over the whole thing.

Though they had always been friends, things had changed when they both had their first child close together. Mira worked so much, up at the bar, that it was hard to find Haven playmates outside of Locke and later Navi, given she was already friends with their mothers. It was just easier that way. And as Haven grew to be, well, rather disagreeable with others, Mira found she met few other women in Magnolia. There were no play dates or meeting other parents at the park. That sort of things. Haven only wanted to play with Locke and Navi. And even then, only kind of. She mostly wanted to boss them around. It was a consorted effort, keeping all the children. They could be just as likely to all sleepover at the Dreyar house when they were that young as they could the Dragneel or Redfox. That meant that all the adults grew accustomed to the different children.

For better or worse.

With Haven, it was usually worse.

Still, Mira and Levy were closer in new ways then, throughout the years even, and currently as well given that, a few months back it had come to light that Haven and Locke were more than just friends and that was so cute to Mirajane, much to the chagrin of her daughter. Levy was amused, in some ways, but also cautious about it in others. Mainly the ones that involved the inevitable blowup of the relationship, which yeah, she did slate as inevitable, and what exactly that would mean for Locke down at the guildhall.

Nothing good.

But it felt good at other times, for her and Mira to have something else to snicker over together. And she did like Haven. Levy did. Not an extreme amount, but when compared to Gajeel, yes, like was a fine word for it.

"At least their together," Levy offered Mirajane finally, after a few moments. "They can't get hurt if they all stay together. Especially Haven and Locke."

Mira had her doubts, but still, she nodded because, yeah, the idea did make her feel a bit better. If they just all stayed together.

But they hadn't done that. All stayed together. In fact, at the moment, Locke was so heated in battle with the person that he'd been left with that he didn't even notice at first. The intense magical pressure as it gathered all about them. He had Ravan pinned down and was just about to slam a fist down into the other guy's face, ending things, finally, when something made him stop.

The hesitation was enough for Ravan to buck up and shove the other boy off him, but just as quickly, Locke was getting to his feet, looking all about.

"Fucking cowards," Ravan growled as he scrambled to his own. "I-"

"Shut up." Locke wouldn't look at him then. "Do you not hear that?"

"What are you-"

"Shut," the other guy growled again, "up."

He did then too, glancing around in the fog as it finally caught his attention. Slow, methodical footsteps approaching them. Each deadened thump gave off such a small shake to the ground that, when they were tussling, it was hardly noticeable, but it was now. Oh, they could feel it now.

Locke didn't even have to glance behind him to know that Ravan had transformed them, back into his gear. Good. He would need it.

The beast appeared from out of the fog far more gruesome than the one before. Taller, thicker, less hairy which, for some reason, was creepier to Locke, but he knew he should focus on other things. It was pretty hard though. At least there was no drool this time. That was a definite-

"Ravan," he warned because Haven wasn't there to do the boneheaded thing first, so it was up to the younger guy, it seemed. "Don't-"

He had to. Rush forward. Get that kill that Haven had stolen from him before. It was his and she wasn't around now because she was off, probably at the temple, probably having a great time on the job that he'd picked for the two of them, while he was stuck with her dumb boyfriend who he fucking hated, god, he hated Haven too, didn't he, hadn't he, always? Why did he care so much what she did? And who she did it with? Why did it bother him so damn much that Haven and Locke were so happy (well, for them) with one another? Because he hated change. And things were changing. Constantly. And the more time she spent with Locke, which was already exuberant, the less she had for him and how was that fair? They were the ones that got it. Him and her. They were the ones that should spend all their time together. That should be together. Not her and stupid-

"You idiot!"

That was from Locke who could only watch as Ravan rushed forwards, planning to do as he had before, with the other monster, to just mash his feet with the hammer. But Navi's fire had been a distraction before. There was one now and he was just in reach when a large paw came swinging down at him, like a pendulum. The collusion had Ravan airborne, sailing right through the air and over to a brick building which he hit with such a sickening splat that Locke was sure it had killed him.

"Ravan!" he yelled as, slowly, he fell from the indent in the brick his impact had made, landing on the ground with a hard thud. "Are you alright?"

He gave off something of a grunt in response and Locke wanted to rush over, to try some of his healing magic, but it would be futile if he didn't take out the monster before him first. It would only attack both of them then. So he had to hurry, Locke knew, and finish the monster off himself.

Yes.

It was the only option.

And somehow avoid getting injured himself in the process…

He clinched his right fist as only it became metallic, sizing up his opponent. It was with his left hand though that, holding it out, he called out a spell before a blue magic circle appeared over his palm. From it sprang five throwing knives, aimed straight for the monster's chest. It only screamed at Locke, breath putrid with or without the rancid spit, easily patting away the knives before they landed. But they did stick, like burs, to what little fur the beast did have, burrowing there. Locke grinned, just slightly, at the confusion this caused the monster though, just as quickly, he had another spell.

"Magnets?" Ravan coughed as he rolled onto his back, off to the side, watching from behind his helmet. "Fucking dork."

But an effective one. Locke kept shooting out more knives which, regardless of being batted at, only stuck into the arms of the monster and, with his metallic arm, Locke was able to control the movements of his arms, at least. It wasn't offensive though. More defensive. He could drag the arms every which way, from his distance, Locke could, but it was dragging the monster ever closer to him at the same time. He needed Haven there, ideally, to finish the beast off. One large bolt of lightning and the fiend was done for. But Ravan could hardly even breathe, over off to the side, and Haven and Navi were long gone. Locke wasn't sure how to get himself out of the pickle he'd backed himself into.

It felt like a gridlock. A stalemate. No going back, but no going forwards either.

And the monster was only advancing as the magnets drew it slowly closer. Though he could keep it from slashing at him, Locke wasn't so sure what he'd do, were it to try and step on him or something. He just had to think. Of something. Did he know a spell? Something he could activate? Anything?

"Fire Dragon Wing Attack!"

The blank he came up with was rendered useless by that as, from the distance, a fire was joined by the torches the boys still had on the ground nearby. It was the Salamander, of course, and though Locke was confused as shit, he had little time to question it as the man came falling out of the sky piratically, dropped by Happy, to land a clean blow on the incapacitated monster.

"Hey!" Elfman was rushing up, torch in hand, to glare over at Natsu. "What the hell, man? I thought we agreed I'd knock 'em out! A man doesn't go back on his word!"

"Sorry, man, it was just easier this way, you know?" As Natsu landed with ease on the ground, he only grinned over at Locke. "Thanks for holdin' him there, buddy. Now, have you seen my scarf anywhere?"

"Natsu," Happy griped as he dropped to the man's shoulder

"Or my daughter," he was quick to add as the cat had spat out the torch, which he was holding in her furry jowls, into the fire mage's waiting palm. "Navi. Oh, and by the way, I know you guys are probably having tons of fun and everything, but the Master is probably gonna kick his ass when he finds ya, so I think I'd go ahead and give up now."

Locke was lost, truly then, as he only stared at the three of them before, looking back at where the monster was moments prior, watching as it dissipated back into nothingness.

"How-" he began, but Elfman cut him off.

"What's wrong with your friend?" He went to go look down at him. "Hey, you alright? Ravan?"

Oh yeah. Locke frowned some as he dropped his attack stance and rushed over as well.

"He got hit," the older teen said as he slide down onto his knees beside him. "Hold on, Ravan, I'll heal-"

"I don't need," he gasped out as he got some of the wind back in him and, sending his gear back into the reequip space, moving to sit up, "your help. Loser."

"Looks like you do," Elfman remarked simply as Locke only glared.

"Fine then," he growled as he got to his feet. "You think I'm worried about you? I'm not. You're lucky that monster showed up. Because I-"

"Where are the girls?" Happy flew over to them then. "Locke?"

He paused his glare with the other boy for a moment before saying, "We got separated."

"What?" Elfman didn't mean to, but he screamed then at the teen. "You lost my niece? What kind of man loses his woman, huh?"

"Uh, we kinda lost the others too," Happy pointed out.

And they had.

"We took the torches," Locke grumbled softly. "Ravan and I. Since we can't produce light. But in the dark...we lost them. And haven't been able to find them again."

"Ah, well, I took the torch 'cause a man doesn't make a woman carry things. Unless the woman wants to carry things. For some reason, it's usually only shopping bags Ever doesn't wanna carry," Elfman mused as he thought. "And Natsu-"

"If it's fire, I should get to hold it," the man declared. "To decide how tasty it is or not."

"I'm glad I was on his head," Happy remarked. "Or else I might have gotten lost with the others too. Erza's been real horrible the whole trip, so-"

"Erza," Ravan breathed and he fell back down to the ground then, blinking up at the darkness above him.

Shit.

"Yeah," Natsu agreed with a nod. "You guys are in some pretty serious trouble. If it makes ya feel any better though, I don't think it's that big of a deal."

"It doesn't," Locke replied dryly.

"Do you have any idea," Elfman asked then, "where the girls would go? No offense to the two of ya, but I'm just here for Haven, really. I got to get to her before fucking Bickslow does."

"Why's that?" Natsu asked and Ravan felt like death, honestly. Listening to their banter was somehow making it hurt worse.

"He thinks he's a better uncle than me," the other guy griped. "He's not even blood related to her!"

"Something tells me," Happy mused, "that Haven won't much like any of you showing up anyways. Uncle or not."

"The temple," Locke whispered softly to them then. "That's where we were all headed. I'd imagine that's where they went."

"That's the thing though," Natsu griped. "I can't smell them. I could smell the two of you. Ravan. Locke. But even the others, it's like their scents just aren't here."

"Maybe," Happy whispered softly, "they're not here."

That hung around all of them for a beat or two, but Ravan was letting out a low moan then and, with a frown, Natsu leaned down to stare at him.

"Let your friend help you out, man," he said with a bit of a grin. He didn't know Ravan as well, given he wasn't one of Navi's typical playmates, but he was still just one of the young guys at the guild. And Lucy was always saying how, since he was one of the older men then, he should try and steer them down the right path. This usually was with an added quip about him not even knowing the right one for himself, under her breath, but he always pretended not to catch it. "You're in a bad way, right now, but Locke here knows all kinds of spells that can-"

"He's not my fucking friend." He shoved up again, Ravan did, but it was with a gasp as his rips cried out. Shit. Shit. "So fuck off. All of you. I-"

"I don't really care what he is." Natsu wasn't leaning down then, but rather just standing there, lording over him. "To you. What he is to me is a guild mate. Same as you. And you help your guild mates when you can, no matter what. It doesn't matter how you feel about them. What matters is the emblem they carry. You're either gonna come with us slung over Elfman's shoulder or you're gonna let Locke heal you up so you can walk with us. The choice is yours, Ravan. You're both Fairy Tail wizards. Act like it."

It was rare for Natsu to step up in such a way, but it seemed to work then as neither Happy nor Elfman made a remark while Locke and Ravan were able to push past their obvious distastes and, though he couldn't do a lot for the other teen, Locke did what he could. Ravan had too much pride to be carried about though and, though he gasped some, he got to his feet soon enough.

"Come on," Natsu said as he gripped his torch tightly. "We gotta find the others. And the girls. Either or."

"But how?" Elfman questioned.

"Men don't ask for directions," Happy offered up to him and yeah, they didn't.

Locke was too tired (and worrying over the wrath of his master) to remark all the fallacies with that statement.

So they set off with no directive other than wherever Natsu felt like heading and, yeah, it kinda felt like they were already back with Haven.

Only, as she used her Lightning Body Magic to lead her right back to where Navi stood, Haven didn't feel lost. Oh, no. She felt much more at ease with the mission than she ever had.

Navi was still there of course, waiting on the ledge of the formerly whole torch room, but she did not look pleased. At all. Not that Haven cared. Ever. At all. Navi had a lot of emotions. Ones that truly stumped Haven. She mostly found it best to ignore them. If they stopped and catered to every dumb thing that bothered the younger girl, they'd never get anything done.

"Read," Haven was saying as she landed, "this. I found-"

"You left me."

"Read it." Haven wasn't even listening. She rarely ever was. "It tells us what we need to-"

"I don't care, Haven."

"What do you mean?"

Instead of taking the rolled scroll the other girl was holding out to her, Navi reached over to snatch her father's scarf off the other girl's shoulders.

"I said," she growled back at her as Haven just blinked a few times, surprised at the verocity she was getting at the moment, "I don't care. Have you even asked me? If I was okay? No. You just took off, like a jerk-"

"I didn't 'just take off'." Haven glared. "I found a way for you to get back up. What was I supposed to do, Navi? Sit around and wait for you?"

"Yes!"

"Stop yelling." She was killing Haven's vibe and the blonde was not appreciative. It took a lot to get excitement out of Raijin's daughter and Navi had managed to suck it all right back out. Shoving the scroll at her then, she said, "Read this."

"No."

"Navi-"

"I'm going home."

"What are you talking about?"

"I am. I was just waiting for Dad's scarf," she said as she wrapped it around her neck. "Play in the temple alone. I'm leaving."

"Navi, you don't even know how to get back out of here."

"I don't care."

"Why are you so upset anyways?" Some dumb girl reason, Haven was sure. Navi was filled with those.

"Because," she reiterated, "you left me, Haven."

See?

Huffing, she was insistent then. "Just read it, Navi. The scroll. Then if you want to leave, fine; leave. I'll finish it on my own."

They had a heavy glare going on then, the two girls did, but the younger only moved to grab the scroll finally, unrolling and reading it in the torchlight.

"'To have come this far,'" Navi read as Haven looked on, "'you're not lost at all. You wandered the darkness in search of the light. Now flee from it, least you be trapped down here forever.'"

AS she finished, Navi only frowned up at the grinning Haven.

"Don't you get it?" the blonde insisted.

"Get what?"

"This is the only light I've seen int his entire temple," Haven insisted as she gestured all about. "The torches. Now we leave them, back to the surface, where I be the treasure is waiting for us."

"But Haven, where did this come from?"

"It was at the end of that tunnel."

"But why?"

"I don't know, Navi." She was growing annoyed once more. "I guess, maybe, this place really was a maze. A puzzle. I bet there's more of them, all around. You're the one that said we were solving riddles or whatever, wtihout realizing that's what they were. If it's really some sort of ancient secret or oddity, then I bet a lot of the story's gotten muddled a bunch. Not to mention, Locke was right; the Professor was out of his mind. Who knows what he forgot to tell us?"

"Haven-"

"I goofed up the torch room part, fine, but we're here now," Haven kept insisting. "I got to the tunnel anyways. Through the wall in there. Now I have this. An actual piece of the puzzle. We're going to finish this, Navi. This job. Us. Doesn't that make you wanna see it through? Even a little?"

This time, they weren't glaring. No. Rather, their eyes were locking and they fought sometimes. The two of them. Like they should. Like friends do. Guild mates. But Navi's eyes shifted then, passed Haven, and her face changed.

"H-Haven," she whispered. "I don't think you got that scroll right."

At the moment, she was more concerned with her head. It was a soft buzz, at first, that heard. A humming. She thought she'd hit her head at some point. Popped her ear drums, maybe, somehow? Something. At Navi's fear though, she turned and saw this wasn't the case. Not at all.

In her excitement before, Haven rushed from the tunnel with little concern with what she left behind. But the second her back was turned, from the depths of it began to materialize little bugs. Hardly the size of a pinky tip. It was confusing at first, to catch a glimpse of them. There was uncertainty in her as to what they were.

Maybe it would have been more threatening, had things gone as planned. Had she not made it to the tunnel without it being connected to anything. Instead, the tunnel ended at a large pit and, at first, neither of the girls could tell how many there were as they flew with a slight buzz over the length of the pit. But then something changed.

It was so bright as they all lit up, all at once, that Navi thought at first Haven had done something. Caused the reaction. But this wasn't the case. Rather, it was the bugs, all glowing a bright, white light and there were hundreds of them. Thousands? Navi wasn't too versed on estimations, but she knew there were a bunch.

"What," Haven whispered softly, "is this?"

But Navi hated them. Bugs. All of them. Oh, gosh, she hated them. She screamed even, just a bit, which got her a glare from Haven, but just as quickly Navi was shooting bright fire out at her hands, in an attempt to kill the bugs. But this only seemed to attract them to her and the bugs, which previously were all crawling about the walls of the pit and fluttering around in that space, sprang forwards, flying straight for Navi and they were supposed to run.

That's what it had meant.

Haven hardly had time to admit her folly (as if she would anyways) as they descended, not her, but rather only Navi it seemed, who was shooting out even more fire balls in retaliation, but ti was too much. They swarmed her as Haven only watched with wide eyes.

"Navi!" She didn't know what to do, really, other than start waving her hands over them, trying to get them off the other girl. "Hey! Navi!"

The fear of the bugs was one thing. No. She could have gotten over that. Gotten passed that. Rather, as they began landing on her, Navi felt it.

Something wasn't right. They weren't stinging or biting her, but rather-

"Don't touch them!" she yelled at Haven as she only tried to back away. "There's something- Just run!"

Which made sense. It was what they were supposed to do to begin with.

Haven didn't need to be told twice though. Soon enough, swarming Navi wouldn't be their only intent and she made sure, of course, that the Dragneel girl was running right behind her, but she had to lead the way. Take off first. Always.

They chased them through the halls and eventually, as they only got more and more lost in the maze, Haven reached back to grab Navi's arm and pull her along when the girl seemed to fall behind. The bugs got on Haven some then, as they had before, but still nothing like Navi. Running helped, it seemed, though, and the longer they went on, Haven just prayed for no dead ends. The entrance was preferable, eventually, but if they just had to run, for the rest of forever, that was better than turning back and seeing the horde of bugs behind them.

Eventually though, her lungs burned and she was annoyed, with herself, for what was going on, for even being there, really, on that dumb job, that job that it was becoming increasingly clear they hadn't even had all the information on, and Navi's hand was slipping, from hers, and the girl was only getting slower. So slow.

They had to stop. Haven had to turn and face them. She didn't know what came over her, as she was faced with a wall of buzzing wall of light, but for some reason, the very idea of her running from demented lightning bugs really, really fucked her up. What was she afraid of? Who was she afraid of? No one. Ever.

Her magic hadn't been a problem the entire time. At all. Like she'd stressed before, as time seemed to standstill, her magical power seemed to be in some sort of vacuum as well. Static was the only concern. But in that moment, as Navi fell to the ground, still covered in bugs, she didn't care if she used all the static in the entire world, if she could never feel it course through her veins again. She expelled everything she had. It almost felt limitless. Navi laid before her, flat on the ground, but beyond her was a tunnel full of little enemies and Haven didn't care if she killed all of them or none of them. She was giving it her all as she shot a blast of lightning from both outstretched palms, the multiple bolts jumping all around the enclosed tunnel, traveling the entire length of it, leaving scorch marks on the wall nearly a mile away.

As her attack connected with the many different bugs floating about, they seemed to explode with a light of their own. Then, in an instance, they were all gone.

Vanished.

She almost felt blind.

"Navi," she breathed, falling to her knees before the girl. There wee still a few stragglers hanging onto her and Haven only batted them away. She felt weak herself, really, from the few that had stuck to her before.

Some sort of poison.

But Navi had been covered in them. She was out of it as Haven flipped her over, onto her back, and it didn't even matter when Haven splashed some water from her bottle. For a long time, Haven only sat there, the girl's head in her lap, and sulked.

Now what?

She was lost, hopelessly, in the dark, Navi was passed out, and she was just stuck. Lost. Lost. Even in terms of the mission, she was confused. She'd thought she was at the end, but she was just as much in the thick of it as she had been before. The boys were gone, Navi was sick or dying or something that she didn't understand and she'd been touched too, by those bugs. Not as many though.

Did that mean she wasn't going to have the same reaction? Or that it would only be delayed?

Sitting there would get her nowhere though, the teen knew, and slowly, she moved to start brushing her hands all over Navi, making sure that she in no way had any bug left on her at all. Any she found, she crushed under her shoe. She'd hoped this would awaken the girl, but nothing.

Then, taking a deep breath, she rose to her feet slowly before leaning down to collect Navi in her arms. She was too heavy for her to carry. The best Haven could do was drape Navi's arms over her shoulders and drag her along.

"I'll buy you some new ones," she muttered softly, just to herself, knowing the girl would bitch her out later about how ruined her shoes (not to mention her ankles, probably) would be from being dragged along in such a way. "Navi. It'll be okay. Alright? I'll… I'll get us out of here. Back to the entrance. And then get you back to Locke. I promise. Do you trust me?"

She didn't need her to be awake to know the negative response that really existed in the girl's heart.

They all seemed in a constant state of change, those past few years. Everyone was growing up and apart, but none as much as Navi. When they were little kids, Haven was sure that she had some sort of personality trait, Navi did, that wasn't just silence and agreement, but Haven didn't know it anymore, if it was there. She liked what Haven told her to. She enjoyed doing what Haven decided they were going to do. She didn't make too many gripes about Haven never returning the favor. No. Locke was the one who stood up to her. Who fought with her. Back in those days. Navi went along with the victor and that was just that.

She probably did have interests that didn't include magic. Mostly Haven could recall how much she liked to play with her father. Which Haven didn't think was too weird, back then, because she kind of liked Laxus still. Not much, but a little bit. It wasn't all zapped out of her just yet. But that wasn't a trait. What did Navi like?

It didn't matter. Not to Haven back then and not in the current age either. She didn't even know who Navi was seeing at the moment. Which was bad. Navi usually talked incessantly about whatever stupid non-guild member in town she was either super into or super dating. It was fucking annoying. So annoying that Haven checked out, at some point. To most things about Navi. The girl and her wants, desires, interests, fears, hopes, none of that mattered.

Because…

Navi didn't matter to her.

None of them did.

She swallowed some, as she wandered through the halls in the darkness, slow and confused and wondering if maybe it was the stupid poison or whatever the bugs had on them that had infected her. Were making her feel so weird. So off. So...introspective.

But it was true. None of them really mattered to her. Did they? Locke and Ravan were out there, lost just as much as her, maybe even worse off, and she'd only told Navi to fuck 'em; they couldn't risk the boys getting one over them. The boys getting the treasure. To lord over her.

But when did they do that?

When did anyone do that? Lord things over her? How could they? Haven never let them. Even if someone had the upper hand, she just kept going at it, kept arguing until they finally backed down. Not because they were wrong or she was right, but because it was just too annoying, too tiring, to keep going at it with her.

She was the same way in battle. Even just sparing. It didn't matter if it was better for her to just stay down, she was always going to come back up. It didn't matter if it was better for her to find the boys, she was just going to go on with her mission. It didn't matter that Navi could fall to her death, she had to get the treasure. She ahd to go on. Because if she stopped, if she actually worried over the others, the way that they worried over her, the way they cared for her…

But she did care for people. Didn't she? She cared about Locke. She cared about him a lot. At least she felt like she did. If he really needed her, desperately needed her, she'd be there? Wouldn't she? Or did she just keep him around because it was better when he was there? Because Locke was so into her, had always been into her, even when they were just friends, and always ready to pump her up, even over the dumbest things, always ready to cheer her on, even when she was such an ass to him.

God, why was she such an ass to him all the time?

When all he did was try to take care of her?

She cared about Ravan though. Surely. Right? Ravan was such a pathetic, friendless loser, but look, she hung out with him and oh, damn, only when she wanted him. She never sought him out to get drinks or hang out. Not unless she had something to bitch about. Usually Locke. Or her father. She tried to assure herself that it wasn't her fault, that he could always just say no, he could always tell her about himself, his struggles, but he was just so quiet. He kept to himself. Whose fault was that? Not hers.

Or...should she ask? More? About him? Haven didn't know. She wasn't too far off from a pathetic, friendless loser either. Personal relationships were just as difficult for her as they were for him.

She couldn't even treat her sister right. Her stupid, annoying, kind, sweet, helpful sister. Marin. She was so innocent. But Haven was constnatly tormenting her. Even as they grew out of the sibling fights, Haven still would purposely not tip her down at the bar and make snarky remarks, behind her back, about working the bar. Like a loser. It was what she was, Haven felt, but Marin was just scared. Of everything. Why did that mean that Haven had to pick on her about it?

Why did Haven have to pick at everyone? About everything? What was she so on edge for? What was she afraid of? What was she running from?

Maybe...maybe because she knew. Deep down. It was hidden under their annoyance over her attitude and disposition, but Haven was pretty sure, even if she wasn't such a bitch all the time, if she was just normal, just fucking normal, for one damn minute, and her aunts and uncles and her friends and her sister, her parents, her damn parents, they probably still wouldn't like her. Would they? What was there to like? Without snarky remarks and aggression, what was left of her?

It was so hopeless. Wandering around in the darkness. But she was afraid of shocking Navi, as she had to hold onto the girl's draped arms, and she didn't want that. No. She didn't want to hurt Navi worse than she was.

She wanted to blame Laxus. Somehow. Haven did. It was her go to blame catcher. A job go bad? It was her fucking father's fault. Locke and her have a fight? Probably because of Laxus being an ass to him. Her mother on her case? Surely, this was Laxus' doing. Not know a spell that she needed? Laxus. He should have taught it to her. Everything wrong with her life was his fault.

But was it really?

Maybe.

Since she was a kid, she'd taken notice of his disposition with the world and mirrored it, at first, in the way any child does their idol, but slowly, the darkness overtook her the same as him. It was no longer an act. She was resentful of anyone or anything that tried to do something for her and suspicious of their reasoning. Why? Why did someone care what was going on with her? Why did they want to help? Why did they think she needed it? Was it because they thought she was weak? She wasn't weak. Who thought she was weak? Who called her weak? Who the fuck thought she was weak?

It, over everything else, was the last thing she wanted anyone to think about her. Weak.

They were so strong. Her parents were. She knew it. She'd heard stories. She'd seen it, with her father. And felt it, from her mother. She wanted to be that, when she was little. Like them. But the older she got, the more she saw them as only shells and hated them for it. Hated them for doing something so stupid. Having kids. Falling in love. Not spending every damn day of their lives proving it. Their strength. Testing it.

If they were so strong, if they were so great, why the fuck were they content with wasting away in that guildhall?

Haven didn't get it. Either of her parents. Especially her mother. And she could tell that they didn't get her. Especially her mother. She didn't feel it, honestly, if Mira did care about her. She loved her, Haven was pretty sure, in that way you love anything that comes from you, that was a part of you, but she couldn't recall a single time her mother ever looked at her the same way she did Marin. Brush her hair back and kiss her head and tell her everything would be fine. Why would she? When Haven was so insistent she was fine, all on her own?

Maybe that's why she hated Marin so much. Because everyone loved her so much. Her Aunt Evergreen was so blatant about it. Even when they were little kids. Lisanna hid it better, kind of, but it was clear who she favored to. Elfman. Bickslow. Freed. Laxus. Mira. Every person in her entire life.

It was probably why she hated everyone, honestly. Everyone in the guild was so easy to love, it felt like, with their actual loved ones. But the people that were meant to love her, that she was meant to love, she just...she couldn't. She didn't know why. Maybe it was because she was feeding off Laxus, maybe it was because he'd spoiled her, like her Aunt Evergreen always insisted, but maybe it was just because that's how she was.

There was no answer.

It didn't matter what Haven did, how she felt, what she thought about. The longer she walked, the more she knew.

None of it mattered.

She wasn't like the others. Years had passed, she'd changed, everything about her had changed. She'd become softer, even, towards the others. Lost her harsh tone. And yet, she was still her. The conclusion would always stay the same. She didn't belong with them. She said it so much, as a kid, but she was an adult now. She felt like an adult now. She wasn't a Fairy. Not anymore. Maybe she never had been.

"I'm sorry, Navi," she whispered softly, the words tasting bitter as she could only continue on. She had to. She'd fall into something. Like always. That's what Locke told her. What her father would say. What everyone in the guild knew.

In Fairy Tail, it always all worked out. Always. They'd seen members come back from death. Grave injuries. Why? Because in Fairy Tail, it always all worked out.

But...if she really didn't belong...did those rules not apply to her?


	8. Chapter 8

"Somethin' tells me, boss, that Lissy's gonna be pretty pissy at me, losing her brother and all."

The slayer only grunted because, yeah, his demon would be too. But what could you do? As he walked along with his splintered Thunder Legion (plus Lily), Laxus hardly had time to ponder those sorts of things. It didn't matter where the others were or how they ended up there. Something felt off to him, the second he entered the city.

"You," Erza had remarked to him as they crossed the gate, "feel it too."

But it wasn't a question. Just a statement. The man could only nod.

"Whatever the fuck it is," he ordered the others, "that's going on here, I don't give a fuck. About any of it. We're here to get the kids and get the fuck out. I'm not getting dragged into anything."

"Has anyone noticed Gajeel's absence? Other than me?" Pantherlily kept glancing back, at the entrance, but the slayer did not appear from the brush beyond. "Should someone wait here for him? Or go back for him? Or-"

"You're welcome to do as you wish," Freed assured him, but that was the most that was offered up other than Lucy assuring the feline that the man would catch up. It wasn't like he could lose them, given his scent tracking abilities.

Which sounded well enough to Lily, who flew on with them.

At first, things seemed calm, if not a bit confusing. Laxus and Natsu weren't getting any whiffs of the teens and the oppressive fog was quite concerning. Much like his daughter, the Master did light up the sky quite a few times, showing off to them their surroundings, but no matter the frequency he did this, no one felt as if they could get a solid grasp on the direction they were heading.

Lucy summoned Pyxis eventually, all excited about it and stuff. Like she'd figured something out. Some of the others were amused, given they were rare to see a summoning, but Natsu, Happy, and Erza all seemed to internally groan some.

They'd seen this outcome many times.

It was much the same.

"I don't understand," Lucy whispered softly, defeated, after she'd sent the spirit back through his gate, "why that would happen. Pyxis has always, at the very least, known the direction. But his compass just kept...spinning. Where are we?"

"Somewhere none of us wants to be for long," Erza offered with a solemn nod.

Laxus was growing restless, really, with all of them. He needed to get to Haven. Erza had been very right. He felt it. Something oppressive was upon them and while he didn't...fear it, he did fear Haven's reaction to it. She had a need to complete things, even those that were out of her range, ones that had no true ending, she'd fight at it until she forced a conclusion. He always feared the day it would be her own.

Or one of the others she dragged around with her.

The thought alone made him sick.

Not that the environment helped. At all. The air was thick and it felt like it was choking them, almost, really. Then someone had allowed damn Natsu to grab the torch and he was waving it all around as he ran about with little concern to the fact that he was supposed to be providing light for the others and then...then…

He blinked, Laxus did.

Then everyone was just gone. That's what it felt like, anyways. Their being, their scents, their magical presence were just all gone and he was standing there, still with Freed and Bickslow flaking him, Pantherlily floating close by, but without the others.

He wasn't the kind to panic and neither were the ones he was left with, but they did call out to the others. A lot. Laxus lit up an arm and Bickslow's babies eyes began to glow in the darkness, but it was no help. It was like the others had all just...vanished.

"Great," Laxus grumbled softly. "Fucking great. I'm not looking for them. Any of 'em. Idiots. This is why I should have come alone."

"Oi, boss, think of it this way," the seith offered up with a slight shrug. "It'll be easier for us to find Haven now, eh? Without all the dead weight?"

"Gajeel," Pantherlily sighed, mostly to himself, "will never find us, will he?"

Freed didn't want to pile on to the Exceed's troubles, but he had a feeling the man never was going to in the first place.

"Where should we head?" the letter mage asked instead. "Laxus? Continue on? Or go back?"

He just shook his head though, lighting up the sky once more, in hopes someone would see them. Notice them. Come back to them. But they didn't. Still, his eyes only fell to the same place they'd been drawn for awhile.

"The temple," he decided with a nod towards it. "Other than the gate, it's the only real thing that sticks out. And I ain't goin' back."

It was decided upon then and Lily usually wasn't one to stick so close to the slayer (he was, after all, the Thunder God), but at the same time, given all the darkness, Laxus had the best chance at providing any real light. He didn't mind the darkness, Lily didn't, but something about the town really set him on high alert.

The other guys weren't faring so well, however, with that directive and, after wandering for what seemed like an eternity, Natsu griped about his stomach and Locke offered up what was in both he and Ravan's bags to the others. When the older boy reached for the younger's though, the pains that Ravan had seemed to wash away, him focusing instead on shoving Locke back and moving himself to get the food from his own bag. This caused a glaring match between the pair and, with a snort, Natsu reached out to rifle through the bag himself.

He was fucking starving.

"Whats with the two of you, anyways?" he complained as he pulled some wrapped bread ends. "Huh? I mean, I get it. You're both about to get your asses handed to ya by Laxus and Erza. But don't waste your time fighting among yourselves. Spend it plannin'! It's what I'd do."

"I've never," Elfman grumbled as he watched Natsu finish what was left of the boy's food though he did pass a bit of the bread off on his Exceed, "seen you plan for anything."

"I planned to find my daughter," Natsu complained. "And look, here I am."

"Without," Happy added, "Navi."

Huh.

Frowning, Natsu could only shrug as he said, "My point though, guys, is that if you have any chance at coming out of this without as massive ass whooping, you gotta coordinate! Let's see, as someone who's way stronger than Erza and Laxus these days-"

"How," Elfman interrupted again because no one was going to let him finish speaking that day, it seemed, "do you figure that?"

"Master only ever sits around on his ass these days," the fire slayer pointed out. "Has a Dragon Slayer daughter and doesn't even train with her. Lazy."

"That's not- Your daughter doesn't even practice her magic!" Elfman was thoroughly offended. "Marin is… Marin could be anything she wants!"

"She wants to be a waitress?" Natsu snorted. "Lofty goals."

"You-"

"Weren't you just getting onto them for fighting?" Happy asked to which Natsu only snorted before looking once more at the still seething Ravan and Locke.

"We're not fightin'. And so what if we were? You're supposed to fight. That's what it means to be in a guild. You fight with one another." Natsu looked to Elfman who was still pretty peeved about the slayer's slight towards his youngest niece, but still, the muscular man did nod his head. "But that's different than what the two of them are doin'."

"Real men," Elfman agreed, "love their guild mates. Their brothers. Brothers fight, but only when there's nothin' else there to do. And we got plenty to do right now. My niece and Natsu's daughter need some real men to save them!"

"Haven doesn't need anyone to save her." Ravan, tired of them all then, moved to sit down on a curb, shaking his head some. He was tired of them. All of them. The Salamander was one of Erza's closest friends, fine, but that didn't mean that he had much to do with him. At all. Erza and Ravan tended to keep their guild personas separate from one another. She found his only friend, Haven, to be annoying, and he found all of hers, nearly everyone else, much the same. "Fuck Haven. She didn't even come back for me."

He didn't mean to say the last part, only whispered it, really, but it was enough to set Locke off.

"Why," he growled back at the other man, "would she?"

Ravan could only sneer though at this, adding in, "I dunno. Same reason she didn't come back for her stupid boyfriend though, I guess."

Which didn't necessarily make sense, not really, but it was enough to make Elfman have to shove Locke back when he jumped at his injured teammate.

"Enough," he grumbled. "You both-"

"Oh, I get it!" Happy had been rather annoyed, before, stumbling upon dumb ol' Locke and Ravan, but clearly, this was where the juicy stuff was laying in wait. "You're both fighting over a girl."

"What?" Natsu was more annoyed. "That's what this is about?"

"Yeah, Haven?" Elfman was very offended, before, for Marin's sake, but this… "You're fighting over her?"

"Shut up," Locke offered weakly to the other men because he was usually very respectful to his guild elders, especially ones as distinguished as the Salamander, but he really didn't want to have this conversation with them. At all. "What do you know?'

"Not much," Natsu agreed as Happy only tossed his furry paws over his mouth, bouncing about on his feet, so giddy from such insider information.

Navi's guild friends kind of sucked, honestly, for the most part. Even when they were kids, they were super boring. And mean. He and Navi both agreed on this. But some spicy gossip was enough to remind the Exceed that even boring people do interesting things sometimes.

"But fighting over a girl? Even I know that's lame." Natsu even snorted. "You should be focused on your magic and getting S-Class. You think I had time for girls when I was your age? I was getting better, every day. When I was fighting someone, it wasn't because I was mad they thought my girlfriend was hot."

"It helped that you didn't have one," Happy chimed in, but Natsu only waved him off.

"Girls come and go." Sort of. His hadn't, so maybe he wasn't the best one to be tossing down this advice. "But your guild, your family, that's real. It's like Elfman said. You wear the same emblem. That makes you brothers. And brothers might fight to the death, but only over important shit. Like who's the strongest. A dumb girl though is just that; a dumb girl." Then Natsu glanced between where Locke stood and Ravan sat, both refusing to look at one another then. "Also...are you guys not real brothers? Because that's super messed up then."

That at least got Ravan and Locke to look the same way, over at Natsu, as Elfman did as well. Happy though, with a sigh, whispered softly, "Ravan is Kai's brother. Not Locke's."

"Oh." He snickered then, the slayer did, before patting at his stomach and announcing to them, "Well, anyways, the girls aren't gonna find themselves, are they? Make peace, don't make peace. I've gotta find my daughter."

"And your wife," Happy was quick to add. "Who you also lost."

"Lucy lost herself. How hard is it to follow a torch, huh?"

As he walked off, Locke slowly followed, but Ravan didn't rise. Elfman stood there though, watching the younger man with a frown.

"Hey," he grunted some, coming to stand before Ravan. "If you don't come on, you're gonna get lost too."

But Ravan didn't say anything. At all. Just sat there, glaring off. He didn't follow them. He didn't want to follow anyone. He was supposed to be with Haven. They were supposed to be finishing the job by then. Heading home. Or maybe not. Maybe the job would be so complex that...that...that she wouldn't make it back in time for her stupid birthday and wouldn't run off with Locke and then…

"Even if my niece doesn't need saving," Elfman offered then with a jerk of his head in the direction of the others, "she's gonna need her friends, after her father's done with her. And I bet you'll need yours, when Erza's finished. Some come on. We got enough people lost already. This darkness sure is overpowering, ain't it?"

But Haven would have killed for it about then. The fog. The sickening thickness. Suffocating. Just obscuring the way enough so that you knew there was light, coming from somewhere, but illumination was impossible. That wasn't the case where she was at the moment. Hopelessly lost and fearing that she might never find her way back.

It was all so stupid. All of it. And as she sat there, back against a wall, her friend still unconscious beside her, Haven really felt like giving up. She wasn't sure what that meant, really, where she was currently. How could you give up when you were in the belly of the beast? Allow yourself to be digested, really, was the only option.

Nothing there existed, however, to do that. Just darkness. She felt somewhat as if it were trying to take her, as she became more accustomed with the nothingness, but it couldn't truly have her. Not as long as she was able to vanquish it as easily as casting a spell.

She didn't. Haven didn't. The darkness felt much more inviting and, in the absolute silence, the only thing there to comfort her were her soft breathes and the ones belonging to her friend. Navi. She thought for sure she'd wake up. That she's open her eyes. Speak. Stir. Something. But so far nothing. She was in a bad away.

All Haven wanted to get was get out of there. Fuck the job. Fuck it all. She wanted to get to Locke, mostly because he could heal Navi, hopefully, but also because… Locke always fixed things. When they went wrong. And everything felt so wrong then.

She knew she couldn't rest forever. It was like she'd said before. She ahd to keep going. Going on. On forever. Walk until she couldn't walk. Get more and more lost because that was the only option. No on was going to find her. Not even Locke could find her, where she was, currently. Nope.

If she was going to save Navi, she had to get back to the torch room. That was the only option. But then what? When she got there? She'd still have to navigate back to the entrance. And even then, the torch room was…

It had to be somewhere.

All of it had to be somewhere.

The place couldn't go on into infinity. Even if it was...cursed or magical, they had their limits. Everything had a limit. Everything…

"I'm sorry, Navi," she whispered as she gently shifted her friend around, so that she could get to the pack on the other girl's back. "I need this."

From it she produced, once more, the journal and a pen. The old map was useless to her now, but...but if she began again…. She might not get anywhere relevant, but she could get somewhere. If she could mark down which paths she took, return upon dead ends, then…

It was slow, deliberate going. Haven was too afraid of shocking Navi to use a continual stream of lightning jumping from her body, so it was done in the same darkness they'd had since she destroyed the lightning bugs from before. Every time she got to a cross roads though or anything of interest, she jotted it down. This involved gently laying Navi down, getting the pad and paper, lighting up her arm, and then actually, you know, writing something, which Haven wasn't a fan of, then reading back over her previous writing and trying to make heads or tails of the chicken scratch and they were just never going to get out of there, that labyrinth, she knew it.

But they would.

She knew that too.

It wasn't too odd for Haven to be certain of two opposite facts. Part of always being right was always being ready to ditch the wrong, previously clutched ideal for the new favorable one. Helped with never being wrong.

Haven found though that having something to do, even something as simple as writing down directions, crossing them out at other points when she had to double back, at least kept her from thinking about it. Dreading it. The idea of being trapped down there. Of having no way out. Of Ravan and Locke giving up finding them and going back home and getting her father and what if he couldn't find her either and no one ever found them? Or if they couldn't even find the town again? Then what?

No. She couldn't dwell on those things. Haven wasn't prone to panicking or overthinking, but that was usually because she had twenty things in her life going at once. Training from day to day with little breaks in between, if not on a cycle of endless jobs, kept her pretty busy. There wasn't time to be bummed about a failure because, just as quickly, she was being thrown into something else. She couldn't think much about how her father and she hadn't been talking for a good number of months then, not really or how her mother was mostly oblivious to her, it had felt like, her whole life, really, and she didn't even know if she liked either of them. Not love. Like. She was nearly certain she didn't on any level. She knew her sister hated her, she had very few friends, most of whom also hated her, and a boyfriend who definitely had to hate her at least a little bit.

If he didn't, then he was just pathetic and that was somehow worse.

Wow.

It really sucked, having none of those things to constantly keep you from reliving and thinking and dreading things. If she got out of all of it...when she got out of all of it…

She wasn't a stewing person. She couldn't be. It felt as if it were killing her.

But her direction making was, at the very least, giving her something to do. She was almost certain though that it was only making her more lost and it was so tiring, carrying Navi's nearly dead weight on her back, but she couldn't leave her.

She wouldn't leave her.

If she could just...go on…

Days felt much the same back in Magnolia. There wasn't much to do for Kai and Marin with a good chunk of their core group gone, both in adults and kids their relative age, Considering the two weren't very good at creating their own drama, their days were spent with their work up and the guild and then together, as always, but now without Erza there to make sure Kai bathed. Marin filled in.

Still, they had managed to create at least a bit of intrigue (or at least Kai had; or had it been Ever's fault) and it hung over them, rather than dissipating properly, given nothing new was being generated. They couldn't talk about the job their siblings either were on or returned from, because they had no information about it at all. They couldn't talk about what the Master was doing or Erza or oh, that Team Natsu, off destroying towns.

No.

There was only one thing on either of their minds and, for all the relief the truth had provided, the aftermath wasn't nearly as exhale worthy.

Marin really, really wanted to tell her mom. Like, a lot. Mostly, probably, because she told the woman everything, but also because it was pretty clear that her mother was worried over what was going on in Incidio and it would at least give them something to talk about instead of just tentatively waiting around, right?

Kai was kinda perturbed, maybe, with her phrasing of this (he didn't like the idea of his life somehow being an entertainment value for the Dreyar clan; except, well, when he was purposely trying and failing at being so), but at the same time…

Well…

Kai didn't have a mother. He had Erza. And she was the closest he got, in some ways, but at the same time, she was pretty far from a typical portrayal. She would always be there for him and he knew that, but the woman's warmth was expressed in ways that at times seemed at odds with normal human interactions. She saw a lot of his antics at tedious rather than lack of attention and treated them as such.

He didn't love anyone the way he loved her. Erza. His memories were so faded then, of his past, of his parents, and it made him sad. A lot. Erza didn't replace that, she couldn't. She wouldn't want to. But what she left in place of all that was more than he could have hoped for, back on his little coastal village, where he and his vengeful brother would no doubt have been lost in the shuffle.

No.

Kai didn't have a mother, but if he had to name one, Erza Scarlet surely was the one he would.

But…

Mirajane had always wanted a son. Two sons. To balance out her daughters. And Kai wasn't her son, but he was pretty close to it. He slept over at her house when Erza went off on her jobs and, sometimes, even when she wasn't. She spoke frequently with the other woman of the boy's growth and many, many issues. She looked out for him just the same she would Marin and, at times, it was easy to consider them one and the same.

The boy felt much the same about her. Erza wasn't too good at it, listening to his many problems and stories. But Mirajane was. From the time he was young, he found her easy to talk to. Open up to. She would always smile at him, when he had trouble explaining why it made him so upset that Erza had been gone for so long or that Ravan didn't wanna play with him so much no more, just that it did. Mirajane would pat him on his head, tell him that it was okay not to understand, but to never stop questioning.

She didn't mind cleaning his fish for him, for free, when he caught them. Didn't berate him for getting messy or eating too much or deferring on his chance at magical prowess. She didn't care that he didn't have grand dreams and high hopes. She didn't want him to change and be like his brother. She didn't want him to change into anything. Not even a better person.

"No," she'd giggle whenever he'd complain about just not being as strong or as fast as the other boys and how, maybe, he should train more, to get to be that, but then he couldn't spend time doing all the stuff he wanted to do and that wasn't really fair, was it, that he had to do all that, just to be something that he didn't want to be in the first place? "I think you're just fine the way you are."

So did he.

No, he wasn't her son. And Kai didn't consider Mirajane his mother. But he did consider her the closest thing he had, when Erza was away. When the problem was too emotional, not so clean cut, to go to Erza with.

"My mother," Marin assured him with a grin and he could meet her eyes then, that day, "will understand. Everything you say. She always does."

Yeah. She did.

They tried to talk to her once, but his words left him and Marin took up his cause, just like she always would, because that's the way it was. He was the one that did all the talking usually, but Marin was always the protector. She always had been. If they really were one and the same, that was just how it was distributed. But what he had to say was less about talking and more about fear, which meant his protector needed to be there. For him.

Levy arrived though and they were robbed of the moment. Instead, they were given the younger kids to watch over and, well, it kept them busy, anyways. But he could feel it again, in his stomach, that same knot he had when he was keeping something from Marin. When he was forced to acknowledge, rather, that he was keeping something from Marin.

It felt kind of silly, honestly, as he and her closed up that night, together, that he'd been so worried about it. So worked up about it. Even if Marin had...liked him, there was no way that she would have rejected what he told her. What he felt. What he was. And Marin did like him. She loved him. The others were all right; two halves of the same coin.

Just...not in that way.

Nothing had changed, really, when it was just the two of them, her sweeping up after a long day and him yawning through pretending to scrub tables. They were rare to stay that late, but with nothing waiting for them back at home…

"You can spend the night, again, Kai," Marin assured him. "I know you don't like to be alone."

Neither of them did.

Mirajane was still around the hall, closing up in the back, and the kids waited for her then. She was surprised, but grateful it seemed. Marin bundled up in her heavy coat and scarf and gloves, because she always seemed so cold, so the fading of the warm autumn always took a toll on her, but she hardly felt it, really, as she walked hand-in-hand with her best friend, her mother before them. She kept looking at Kai, as if willing him to say something, questioning eyes wondering if she should, but he just shook his head and slipped the hand that wasn't gripped in her gloved one into his pocket, so it could find it's own warmth there.

The barmaid offered to make them all something to eat, when they arrived back at the empty Dreyar home, which both kids originally accepted, but Marin kept falling asleep while waiting, so her mother merely sent her off to bed.

Then it was the two of them, there, and Kai never felt nervous around the woman. Never. Mirajane wasn't a mother to him, but she was close, so close, and it was weird to feel so visibly shaken, but have the woman say nothing about it.

"Are you worried? Mrs. Master?" he asked and he felt a bit silly, sometimes, still referring to people by the titles he'd coined when he was much younger, but time was a cruel mistress. As was repetition. "About the others? About...Haven?"

"She's my daughter," Mira offered with a bit of a sad smile and a shrug. "I always worry."

"But about this job-"

"Did I ever tell you, Kai? About when my sister died?"

Sort of. Many times. In the sort of way. And not necessarily her either. A lot of stories from the past seemed to be passed down to the younger generation in broken recollections and drunken revelations. Bedtime stories were frequently, but inconsistent and most everyone in the guild seemed to have a hero complex, meaning that every battle (and it's ranking of importance) was slanted through the view of the teller.

The kids heard the same stories a billion times and no one, other than Navi, ever seemed to be able to get true cohesion. And she probably didn't either, letting her own preconceived notions guide her pen much more.

Still, to be polite, Kai shook his head and Mirajane's grin wasn't so sad then, but grateful, more, as she corrected him.

"You shouldn't lie, Kai."

"I wouldn't mind hearing it again," he whispered as they sat at the kitchen table, alone. The house felt much emptier when the Thunder God wasn't snoring loudly in back room. "Is what I meant."

But Mirajane looked away from him, passed him, as she merely said, "I thought I could never love like that. The love I had for them. Lisanna and Elfman. When I list her… But I survived it. Until she was returned, something I will never truly feel worthy of, but she did, and I'm glad, so glad, but… If something ever happened to...Haven. I don't… I know nothing will, or should, but if it did… I found solace and redemption in my sister's death. It taught me many things. Humility. Acceptance. To truly face my demons. But Haven… I know you and her aren't exactly friends."

"I like her," he offered because he did. Kind of. But yeah, no, they definitely weren't.

Again, her smile was different.

"It's okay," she assured him. "Haven isn't...like most of us. She's...different. She wasn't always, but she is now. And I've had this feeling, deep inside of me, for so long that… No one can stay forever, Kai. I don't mean that I think she's...dying. Or that she needs me. Right now. Because I would go to her. I would go and get her. Every time. But a mother knows. Even when they don't understand."

He fell out with the former, but definitely into the latter. Still, the pit in his own stomach felt heavier and, setting his fork down, he didn't want anymore of his quickly thrown together meal. Instead, his stomach felt sour and he thought he was vomit, but…

"Mrs. Master?"

"Hmmm?"

"I… I think Haven will be okay. So you don't have to worry."

"I know she will be, Kai." He could feel her eyes, but couldn't meet them. "Of course she will be."

He wanted to get up. He started to get up. To head off to bed. But he felt cemented there. He had to say it. He wouldn't be allowed up until he said it. But the words felt worse, even, than when he was telling them to Marin, and what was the difference between them? Marin and Mirajane? It didn't feel like much. Not really. She looked so much like her Aunt Lisanna, and maybe she was closer to the woman, more reserved like the woman, but she was powerful, like her mother. A power she chose not to wield. Because she had more important things to do. Things to take care of. People to take care of.

"Mira?"

"Mmmm?"

"I...I don't… I told Marin the other day that… I don't like… Girls are… And-"

"I know, Kai."

He lifted his head then, frowning at her, but she wasn't smiling then. She was looking at him, but she didn't grin. Didn't make light. She didn't look like anything, really, other than the Master's wife, who she'd always been, to him. He didn't know Mirajane Strauss. Only Mirajane Dreyar. And she was always kind and supportive and didn't think that he was so bad or horrible to be around. Not like the others did. Not like everyone other than Marin did.

"What do you mean?" he whispered, but she was still only looking at him and his eyes fell again.

"It takes a lot," she told him softly, rather than answering, "to admit things about yourself. And I know that they feel scary sometimes, but they're not, really, are they? Especially something as special as this. It's nothing to be ashamed or worried about. And anyone who makes you feel that way isn't someone worth being around. It all seems so important, right now, everything does, but you'll be okay. One day, you'll be so glad that you were able to realize this. About yourself. So young. So freely. It will only get easier. I promise."

He believed her. Because she never lied to him. Not about anything. Everyone else sighed at him or shook their heads or just ignored him, but never Mirajane. Never. Not once.

Kai gave her a hug before he went to bed and she reminded him of his duties the next morning, but he never heard her go off to bed. No. Marin was, when he entered the too tiny room she was supposed to share with her sister, but Haven was rarely around in those days. And as he fell into the bed that the blonde spent less night in that year than he had, Kai felt pretty glad to have her.

Mirajane.

Mrs. Master.

Satan's true child, however, at the moment, didn't have the luxury. She didn't feel it, the thoughts her mother felt as if she were sending, and her worry would be more of a nuisance than a gift. Her blessing meant nothing and Haven had never opened herself up to her mother about a single thing. She never would. She'd never felt the need. Even if she had, she'd probably have only swallowed it.

Like the darkness.

She cried, Haven did, when she found it. The torch room. She'd seen it before, of course, the feint light, and as she laid Navi down before it, the whole job felt complete. Far from it, of course, everything was still much the same. Pitiful and hopeless, but maybe a little bit less?

Maybe?

AS she drank the last bit of water the pair had, Haven considered just how long it had been since she last slept. It felt like a lifetime. She wondered if Ravan and Locke had made it. To the temple. If they were looking for her. If they were worried about her. Any anger she had towards them, over being dumb and getting lost (or had she and Navi been the ones to get lost?) was gone then. She wasn't even worried about them, really. At all. She had nothing left. At all.

"Why do I feel so good," she questioned the unconscious Dragneel girl, "about doing so little?"

But hadn't that been her entire life?

It was ridiculous, the drop was, as she glanced over the side of the crater she'd created by triggering the trap in the torch room. Much higher up than it had felt, when they were dangling. Was that possible? Maybe it was because she was no longer consumed with the need to go on. With the quest. No. Now all she could think about was getting Navi help. And a fall in the pursuit of that would be more than just a hindrance, as she'd felt it was before; it would be a death sentence.

Without Navi, she'd never leave the tunnels. Not because she'd be unable, rather, but because she was search. And search. And search. It was one thing she noticed the lack of before. Bodies. In the temple. There were none. People had of have died in it. She would bet everything that they had.

So where did the bodies go?

She'd search forever in the darkness for the dissipated and gone Navi and that would be something of justice, wouldn't it?

They couldn't stay forever. With the light. It had been what chased them before and, even earlier, what they were seeking, but now, she had to turn her back on it completely. She had to head back into the darkness. With Navi on her back. Haven felt like the only thing fighting off exhaustion was a refusal to take it's heed. It was like running; if you gave your body an out during a long run, then you'd never get started again. An impossibility.

"We have to get home, after all," she reminded Navi, softly, as she forced herself to her feet with one, long, sorrowful glance back at the pit. "It'll be my birthday soon."

It was what she looked forward to most of all. The one day a year where everyone had to admit that, yes, they were glad she was there. Had survived (somehow) another year. With that attitude and sharp tongue of hers. A true anomaly.

"Locke," she whispered as she walked along, slowly, painfully, trying to think of anything other than the horrible thoughts that crept up constantly, "is real excited. To not have a job to go on and just be… Us, I guess. Without a job. I wouldn't tell him, but I'm kinda happy too. We'll have fun. I'll tell you about it, maybe, Navi. If you want. I know you won't. And I probably won't want to. But if… If you just wake up…if you can hear me… I really wish that we were closer. Kind of. Maybe. I just… I'll never yell at you again. Curse at you. Call you stupid or make fun of you or… We just have to make it, Navi, is all. To Locke. He fixes everything. For me. And Ravan, he'll carry you, if I ask him, probably. You'd hate that, wouldn't you? Maybe the thought alone will bring you back. Navi. Navi."

Maybe it was because she was retreating. Yes. That must be it. When she was moving forwards, following the demands of the riddle, it hadn't been this way. No. But every single time they went against it's wishes, monsters appeared. Not like the lightning bugs, that seemed to be a part of it, but rather the tiny ones they faced before, when they were just going whichever way she decided for the pair to go. Or when they were with the boys. None as ferocious as the first one, at the entrance, but others.

When they weren't playing by the rules.

And going backwards from the torch room, apparently, wasn't within the rules. The magic was punishing her. Forcing her to go back. That's what it wanted. But with each new monster, as she laid Navi back down to face it, she knew she had to go on. She had to. She had to get Navi help. Whatever the stupid town or temple or whatever had waiting for her, if she just solved it, if she just went on, ti wasn't worth it. None of it.

All that mattered was...was…

Was that she could feel it.

What she'd feared.

Not a lack of magical power, no, but rather the static. There wasn't much left. She was running out. Her lightning would soon be impossible and there was another monster and they were left in the darkness and this is how it ended, huh? Only it's dark, glowing yellow eyes up ahead.

"Navi," she whispered softly as she took no care that time, shrugging the girl off her shoulders. "You were right before. I didn't care what happened to you. I…" She clinched her fists and there was magic there, still in her, but without any electricity… Was this what it felt like? When she was a child? When all she had was the latent abilities, assigned no power or element? No will? She'd never experienced it, not with recollection, and the idea that she felt so empty her entire life, right up until her father showed her how to wield her chosen element, his chosen one, gave her such an intense feeling of foreboding that it felt wrong to be so sad over something like that as she faced what she was sure was her own doom. "You'll be okay. You're one of them. They'll find you. Maybe, with you being passed out, it won't even notice you. And Locke and Ravan will… I got this one, Navi. Too bad you're not up to remember it, to write about it later, huh?"

And it was approaching closer then, in that same methodical, slow pace all the monsters did and she could smell it, the stench, the sickening, putrid stench clinging tightly to her nostrils. Not a preferable way to go, but just as her father always told her, as she set her feet and willed all her strength to find her then, anything Mavis had for her, that Tenrou gifted her with, that she was supposed to find in them, her family, her friends, her guild, but always missed, couldn't quite grasp, that so long as you went on your feet, fighting till the bitter end, then you were a dragon, through and through.

A dragon.

She'd have grinned if she wasn't so sickened.

Haven almost forgot she wanted to be one of those. Once.

Almost.


	9. Chapter 9

Haven knew she shouldn't be so tense, that you fought best when you were loose and limber, but it was hard not to be so when a fight to the death was imminent. When your death was imminent. She knew that there was no way to beat the beast, not without magic, the whole point of the entire town had been magic, and now she was going to fail. She wasn't going to see it through, with the others. She was going to die and then what?

Then what?

Then nothing, she knew, as the monster was before her then and Freed told her once, when she was younger, that a sword fight and real fight were hardly any different.

"The first one to swing," he told her simply, "typically will lose."

"Why's that?" She was doubtful, because even as a kid, Haven doubted everything. It was why they had that conversation, after all. She doubted he'd ever used that sword of his and, oh, Freed definitely had. She was getting a pretty boring lecture though, as the reward for her inquisitive.

"An opening attack should be powerful. You want to end things quickly and concisely, "the man explained with a nod. "But to be the first to put yourself out there, you must also be the first to open yourself up to weakness."

"But if you use all your power and do hit them-"

"But if they dodge? Now they have evaded your powerful opening attack and left you liable."

"Yeah, but-"

"It is not always so," he assured her. "But growing up in this guild, you begin to think that all fights are these long, drawn out events. They are not. When you remove magic, all magic, and our physicality is all that's left, things are much different. Not so complex. One clean blow is all someone needs to defeat you. So you must have patience. Resilience, prowess, and execution are all fine, but patience is key."

She tried to hold it then, as she stood before her passed out friend, all alone. The claws of the first beast had ripped Locke one good and Haven feared, in the darkness, the claws the current one might possess. What they could do to her. IN such a confined space, she hardly had room to do it. Dodge. No. Evasion wasn't on her side much, but maybe…

It screamed in her face, much as the other one had, before, when she was with the boys and it was horrifying in the darkness, with only the glowing yellow eyes to give her any sense of something other than pitch blackness, but she had to hold her position. She didn't think she could do anything but.

Terror was something that was rare to befall Haven. Nothing scared her. Not monsters, not demons, not jobs, not her father, not her mother, not her aunts, not her uncles, not her friends, and certainly not failure. Because she never did that. There was nothing to be afraid of, to terrify you, when you always believed you were in the right. When you were always prepared to switch to the other side and proclaim it your true side all along. What could hurt you? When you had the power of always winning on your side?

But she wasn't going to win. Not then. There was no way. She had one chance, if she could just...then maybe…

It wasn't as big as the other beast, of course not, not in that tunnel, so it's arms weren't as long, it's paws not so big. It didn't try to strike her though, like the other had. Rather, when it advanced it, had a completely other intention and, that time, instead of screaming in her face, it was thrusting it's forwards and oh, wow, it was going to eat her.

There was something sick about it. The concept of eating something. She'd never really considered it before. Thought about it. But to be ripped apart by razor sharp teeth as something chewed you to a nauseating mush of all your insides now outside, well, it sounded like a really horrific way to go. And not at all the one for her.

Haven screamed when it snapped it's fangs at her and terror had turned into something different. She couldn't move forward and she couldn't move back, but she could jump to the side, just slightly, but there was enough room for it. For her to throw a punch at the side of the beasts furry head.

The only thing it did was piss it off more though. And as it snapped in that direction then, Haven had nowhere else to go, but down, and as she hit the floor and it didn't have claws at all, she found, which was some how much scarier as it reached down to grab at her then and she had to do something. She had to. But she was just too...too...scared.

She was too scared.

She had other anecdotes. Things the others had told her. Laxus, Bickslow, Freed. Hell, even Efl, Lisanna, and her mother. Evergreen. She learned a lot about fighting from Gajeel. From hanging around Erza's house with Ravan. She knew a lot of things. Had been told a lot of things. Her entire life from the time she could walk was spent learning how to fight. She used to play dragons with Laxus, as a baby, tackling and grappling with the man, never going back from that moment. She fought her family, her friends, everything. Always. Constantly. Learned, sulked, had miserable injuries at times, even, from fighting people who weren't willing to hold back. The older kids, not in the guild, but around Magnolia, saw her to be a huge annoyance when she was a little kid, constantly going around, bragging about her name, her guild, her abilities. So it got her ass kicked. A lot. But she always came back for more. That was what everyone always said about her. Good or bad, they always noticed it. No matter what.

But she was giving up then. Wasn't she? It felt like it. Was that what it was? To give in? To surrender? She had to get on her feet, like Laxus always said, like she always did. Because what else was there?

She was trying to shove it away from her, as what wasn't a paw at all, but felt more...human, like fingers, grasped her, huge, human like fingers, and she had to do something. Anything. Ravan could slash it, if he were there. Navi would never run out of fire. She'd just send a blast. And Locke was stronger than her.

He was.

His punches meant more. He focused on those things, outside of magic.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Static. There was no static. If she just had some, even just a little, just a…

She slipped through his fingers then, wiggling about, and the fuzzy fingers of the beast, two of them rubbed against one another causing just enough of a tiny spark. It was all she needed. Just enough of one to allow Haven a blast, a strong one, traveling all about her body, causing the monster over her to fly back, away from her. Them. Her and Navi.

Shoving back up, she thought her eyes were playing a trick on her as, the monster was down then, his eyes were closed, but she saw something, in the distance. A soft glow. Not the light of a torch, no orange or red was to be found. Rather, it was almost like a soft, green glow.

What-

"Open," came a loud, booming voice, and Haven never thought she'd be glad to see her, but man, she was then, "Gate of the Giant Crab! Cancer!"

"Oh, yeah, baby." And they were there then, somehow, as Haven fell to her knees, panting. The soft glow came from neither the celestial mage nor her spirit, but rather, Erza, at her side, in some sort of armor that cast a light of it's own. Almost like the glow-in-the-dark stars that hung from Locke's bedroom, put there when they were much younger children. She looked ridiculous, but then again, that's what made her Erza. And as Cancer clipped his scissors together, he merely remarked, "I can see someone can use a new 'do."

As she could only watch in the dim glow of Erza's armor, Haven saw Cancer begin to snip at the beat, twirling him all about, shaving and crafting his hair. Everything felt much less scary then and Haven wasn't sure why she was so afraid before. Of anything.

"Lucy," Erza finally critiqued in annoyance as she rushed forwards with a blade, "why toy around when you can just finish him?"

And she did. Erza did. As the monster dissipated though and Haven only sat there, on her knees before the two woman, any enjoyment over the situation faded and Raijin's oldest new she wasn't as fucked as before, but certainly still, in a different way.

They both stared at her for a few moments, Erza and Lucy did as the latter thanked her spirit, sending him back to the Spirit World. Then though, Lucy's grin over finding Haven faded into something more as she spotted, behind her, the body of her daughter.

"Navi!" she yelled and rushed forwards, over to her, but Erza only stood there for a few more moments, studying her Master's daughter.

"Will you not arise?" the swordswoman requested. "Are you mortally wounded?"

"No," Haven whispered and Erza advanced then, the gnarly blade she'd used to defeat the beast still drawn, now pointed in the girl's direction.

"You have defied the rules of your guild for your own glory and pleasure," Erza began. "Do you deny this?"

"No."

"You risked the lives of your comrades and those who came after you, for no reward other than personal gain." Erza didn't wavier. "Do you deny this?"

"No." Haven lifted her eyes to stare up into the older woman's. "I deserve whatever you're going to do to me."

That got her. Just a bit. The girl was definitely more reserved around Titania, but she was hardly docile. Never respectful. Perhaps a bit fearful. But this...this was not what Erza was expecting.

"Erza!" Lucy was still over there, cradling Navi now then, as she said, "Something… Something's not right. Haven, what happened? Is she… What's wrong with Navi?"

That was harder to get out though and Haven wished for darkness then, like it had been before, so that no one could see the look on her face, the glistening in her eyes, as she whispered, "I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know? Haven-"

"Some bugs… Something was chasing us and it got on her and I think… I think it poisoned her."

Finally, Erza withdrew her sword and came over to her friend's side. "Is she breathing?"

"Yes, but it feels shallow. Navi..." Lucy leaned down to gently brush a kiss against her head before glancing up at Erza. "We have to get her back to the others. Out of here. To a doctor or something. Who bought a medic bag?"

Who brought anything?

"Locke can save her." And Haven was pushing up then, finally, to come over as well. "He… He can do it. If we get her back that. That's what I was trying to do. But I don't know where he is."

"Neither do we," Erza sighed, glancing about. "But we will find him. Lucy, dry your tears. Navi lives. I will carry, if I can, and-"

"Open," Lucy announced without responding to her friend, but it was in a much softer voice, "Gate of the Golden Bull. Taurus."

"Moo!" came a call and Haven was less impressed with the spirit that stood in front of them. It was always interesting, to see it for the first time in a long time, Navi's mother summon spirits, but it quickly grew old. He breathed too, heavily through his nose, remarking, "Three pretty ladies alone in the dark? I'm glad you s'oo'mmonded me, Lucy."

But there was no play in her voice as she requested, "Taurus, can you carry Navi? Please? We have to find someone in the guild, to heal her, and I don't think I can carry her that far. Neither can Erza."

Her solemn tone was always enough to indicate to the bull just how he should react in a situation. And, with a nod of his head, he reached down to gather the girl in his arms as carefully as he could. Staring down at her, Taurus remarked gently, "I'll carry her as far as you want. Through darkness and all."

Erza had to lead the way and though Haven wanted to fall back, fall away, the swordswoman gripped her shoulder, tightly, forcing her to walk beside her.

"Explain," the woman ordered as they went and she held her other hand out, running it along the wall, "yourself. Haven."

She didn't know if she could. But she tried. With the temple, at least. She didn't care to talk about the rest, not yet, not to them, but she felt as if to Lucy, at least, she owed some sort of explanation for all that had gone on.

When they reached a corner, Haven noticed it. Erza's finger hit a nick in the stone and she turned, at that corner, accordingly. Of course. She must have marked the path somehow.

Sure beat the paper method she and Navi had been using.

There was such a bright light though, eventually, suddenly, that Haven didn't understand. Until she did. Until they all did.

"Laxus!" she yelled as the wall beside them crumbled away and there he stood, a pile of rubble behind him as well as the others all stood there. Bickslow. Freed. Lily. He'd destroyed the walls, a lot of them, from the looks of it.

"Of course," Erza remarked with a heavy frown. "The only way men know how to solve a puzzle; destroy it."

True light, more than Erza's armor, was too much for Haven, honestly, after all that darkness. It was so bright…. He just stood there though, her father did, and his eyes were dark as sparks jumped off his body.

"Your favorite uncle, eh, kid? Come to save the day." Bickslow jerked a thumb to himself. "Unlike lame old Elfman. I-"

"You," Laxus growled, deeply as he advanced on them, but Lucy stepped in the way.

"Navi," she said as she separated father and daughter, Erza's hold falling from the girl's shoulder, "needs help. Serious help. Please, Laxus, I know that they...that they… I think she's dying. You have to-"

He turned then, to where the pink haired girl was still being held by the celestial spirit. Looking he over, he said, "Freed, anything you can do?"

"What is her ailment?"

"She needs Locke," Lucy insisted. "It's some kind of magic. Please-"

"Of course." Freed smiled over at the woman easily though his idol still only stood, staring down at the child. "We will take her to Locke."

"You know where he is?" Erza questioned. "The boys are supposed to be together. Is Ravan-"

"Dunno." But Laxus was moving then, to take the girl from the bull. "But I'll find them. Catch up when you can."

It was a shock then, the room going so dark as in his place a single bolt was left over which fled from them, through the holes the slayer had created in all the walls, leaving them once more with Erza's armor as their only guiding light.

He ignored their calls as his Lightning Body Magic carried both he and Navi through the air until, finally, they were out of the temple and as he stood there, outside of it, he lit up the sky brightly above them as he still held his daughter's friend in his arms. Looking all about, from the top of the temple, he could place nothing. Not a single soul.

Rushing down the steps, the second he reached the bottom, something...changed. Something was different. And it only took a few blocks before the lightning he was striking in the sky seemed to light up something different. Something else. He wasn't so far from the temple, before, but when he glanced back at it, the thing felt miles away.

"Laxus! Hey! Or is it Haven?"

He knew who that was, at least. Elfman. And his lightning then was visible to the others and they were there then, torches in hand, standing before the slayer. Elfman, Happy, and Natsu. Locke and Ravan.

But no Gajeel.

Not that he needed him though. Just his boy.

"What- Navi!" Natsu was over to him in seconds. "What'd you do to her, man?"

"Navi!" Happy flapped beside them in concern. "Are you..."

"I didn't do fuck to your kid." Laxus was shoving past them then, over to Locke, who stared in wide eyes at his master. Gently, the slayer dropped to his knees, present the girl to him. "Heal your friend then, Locke. It'll be the last thing you do, so make it count."

He was shaking, in fear, the young man was, but still, he nodded as he looked her over. Natsu and Happy stood by, in concern while Elfman stood back in equal fear, but Ravan just stared at Laxus. As the man rose, he easily returned the gaze.

"Where's," Ravan found himself asking, "Haven?"

"Wouldn't you like to know? You piece of shit. The two of ya. Look at you. Are you proud of yourselves? Ravan? Locke? Now poor Navi here's lying here, in her own death, because what? You guys wall wanted to go off and have some adventure? Pathetic. You're all fucking pathetic. I'm embarrassed to have the three of you in my guild."

Locke felt his breath leave him, but he had to focus then, his hands outstretched over Navi, whispering soft incantations as he praised that something, anything worked. Happy's eyes were filled with tears as Natsu only sat then at Navi's head, cradling it in his arms as he watched silently for once.

"Navi," he whispered softly as his eyes fell to his white scarf wrapped tightly around her neck. "Why'd you go off and do this? And what did it to you? When you wake up, you gotta tell me, okay? I need you to tell me everything."

She wouldn't awake. Not even by the time the others arrived to them. Ravan had never felt true terror either, not really. But unlike Haven, it wasn't found in an unbeatable foe, but rather the eyes of his disappointed caretaker.

Lucy rushed forward, immediately, over to Navi, and the Thunder Legion to Laxus, but Patherlily on stayed in the air, where he was, frowning.

"Where," he questioned, "is Gajeel?"

No one had an answer.

But Laxus had a better one and, as the others seemed to take notice of it as well, he got it out before Elfman or Locke or Ravan as he looked to Erza.

"Where," he growled at her, "is my daughter?"

"She ran off," Erza replied simply. "I wished to follow her, but… It was dark. WE lost her. And I had to lead the others back. Freed and Bickslow offered to stay behind, but I feared more separation, without any light than his babies. I made the decision… I knew that you could locate her. If you went back, Master. I am sorry. It felt as if it were the best decision."

"Ran off?" Laxus lit up once more, brightly, and he was seething. Absolutely. Freed and Bickslow both tried to reason with him, but they couldn't. No one could.

Locke fell back then, onto his butt, looking to both Lucy and Natsu in turn as he said simply, "I've done all I can. I think she'll be okay, but you gotta get her to a doctor or something, I think I removed the poison, but it's really messed her up."

Silence hung over all of them then as Laxus merely stood there, panting. Thinking. And as his breaths finally even out though, providing true calm, something else happened. More important.

Natsu cheered, loudly, too loudly, maybe, for the down setting, but he couldn't help it as Navi's hand moved, just slightly, up to her neck, grasping at her scarf. Her eyes didn't open, she didn't say anything, but that was enough.

"Navi," Lucy cried, tears truly falling then and Happy buried ins head into the girl's stomach while Natsu just leaned down, pressing his lips to her forehead.

Laxus glanced over at them before at the direction of the temple, looming so far int the distance. Too far, for how short he'd walked and he had no doubt the others had, to find Natsu and his group. Still, his chest tightened and he shut his eyes, thinking for a long moment.

"No one," he finally answered the questions of the others, "is going back for her."

"W-What?" Elfman wouldn't stand for that. Going over to his brother-in-law, he looked about ready to slug him. "What do you mean? What's wrong with you? Are you scared? Is that it? Look what it did to Navi! Whatever's in there, Haven's with it. Haven-"

"Haven had a chance," Laxus growled right back at him, "to get out of there. She chose not to. Haven knows that her friend, her teammate, is out here dying, and where is she? Huh? Where the fuck is she? No one is going back for her. If Haven wants to come out, she will. I got what I came for. And so did the rest of you."

"Laxus, I beg of you-"

"Boss, Mrs. Boss won't like-"

"Your master," he growled over his followers, "has spoken."

He had.

But it didn't matter.

None of it mattered.

He was still shaking, as he had been the whole time, as he got to his feet, but Locke wasn't nervous. Wasn't scared. Err, well, yeah, he was, but not of anyone there. Not then. He had something much more important to worry about.

"Locke!" Patherlily called after him as he took off, sprinting into the darkness. "Come back! Where are you going? Do not do this. You cannot-"

"Let," Laxus remarked simply as he turned his back then, on the fleeing teen, "him go."

"Laxus-"

"You go too, cat, if you want. But don't take a torch." Walking over to where Navi laid, his eyes weren't on the girl, but rather the last kid, the last teen, really. The man. Ravan. He felt the Master's eyes on him, but couldn't take his gaze away from where Erza stood, heavy eyes on him as well.

They were waiting. For him to go. Daring him to go. And he wanted to. He really did. It was all up then, the entire thing. They were caught. He was in trouble either way. If he let him go alone, Locke go alone, he'd finish the job, maybe, with Haven. Just the two of them. Ravan had done all of this just for that alone. For it to be him and Haven alone.

So why...why wasn't it him? Chasing after her? Why did he only stand there as Erza came over as well, shaking her head at him.

"You," she told him after a long sigh, "have gotten yourself in quite a bit of trouble, Ravan."

"I know," he replied, eyes falling finally and Locke was gone, with Lily, disappearing into the darkness. Instead, he saw Navi, still breathing shallowly as her parents wept over her openly. "I… I'm sorry, Erza."

"It's not enough."

"Erza-"

"It's not," she repeated, tone heavy, "enough."

That time, he nodded and reiterated his own words. "I know."

It never was.

Locke's footsteps echoed through the streets and he'd traveled them the entire time, constnatly, endlessly, and never gotten anywhere, but he wouldn't do it. It didn't matter what his master commanded. Even if it were his own father. Haven herself couldn't make him do it. Leave her there. Leave her behind. How could he? When she'd never do it to him?

Would she?

No, he answered for himself, and he didn't care what anyone else thought about that. He knew she wouldn't. Haven would never leave him. Ever. They'd been together, in some way or another, their entire lives. She'd always been his closest friend, even when she was being his worst one. His best friend. She was more than just his girlfriend. Locke didn't have any siblings, no cousins, nothing, really, other than her when he was growing up. She was more than a sister, a relative, a friend, a guild mate.

Haven was a part of him. It was natural, their step into a real relationship, and yeah, it hadn't all been fun, hadn't all been great, but that past year felt more right than any other he'd lived through. He felt more complete. If they thought, even for a second, that he was just going to leave her in there, trapped, maybe, even, calling out for him, _needing him_, then fuck them.

Fuck all of them.

From the Master down to Happy.

It was an insult to even ask it of him.

He could hear Lily following after him, but he couldn't stop, not even for a second. He didn't know what awaited him, where he was going, or even if he could actually find Haven, but despair over it was gone and he was in desperation now, Locke was. He needed to get to her. He had to get to her.

Finding the temple was as confusing as it was cathartic, but when he tried to start up the steps, suddenly, he was grasped form behind and he was being flown up them instead.

"You can't take me back," he vowed to Lily. "I won't go back."

"Wouldn't dream of it," the Exceed assured him as he flew him higher, up to the top of the temple. "Locke."

Through the darkness, Lily led him to where the Master had completely decimated the walls of the temple, them stumbling over the rubble he'd left in his wake, all to get to his daughter. Locke felt much the same, caring not for the danger that this offered him. When he reached the end of the rubble, nearly running into the wall before him, he only slammed a fist into it as, breath jumping from his body, his lungs were forced to carry on their cries of pain as he titled his head back and yelled.

"Haven!" he screamed until his throat bled and the noise only echoed through out the entire tunnel system, all around the temple, causing Lily to fall from the sky as he threw his hands over his ears and grumbled some what. "Where are you?"

As they echoed, his voices did, he bowed his head, slamming it, really, into the wall, because he knew this would happen. That it would all go to shit. He should have never gotten on the stupid train. He shouldn't have let Haven. Stupid Ravan. Stupid-

"Locke?"

"Haven." He grinned, just from the sound, and it felt like it had been forever since they saw one another, but he was so close now. So close. "Where are you? Just keep talking. Please. I can follow your voice. Really. I think. If you just keep talking."

So she did. Called to him as she stopped her searching, even, it seemed, just stayed where she was, as she yelled out to him all that had gone on while they were away. She was hardly finished the tale before he was there, in front of her, with his cat and though Locke had had the least stressful journey of the pair, it was him that fell into her arms and Haven only hugged him, tightly, as he accidentally tackled her to the ground.

"You're okay," he breathed as she felt the same relief wash over her.

"So are you."

"As am I. If either of you care."

They didn't, really. In fact, they hardly heard Lily as Locke laughed, getting up to pull her up and then he was patting her tired head.

"What are you doing though? Haven?" It was dark, but just the feeling of her soft, blonde hair beneath his rough palm. As he rested it there then, he stared down in her general direction as he questioned, "Why did you run off? From Erza? She said-"

"Did you heal her? Navi?"

"Of course, but-"

"And she's gonna be okay?"

"I did what I could. But they need to take her to a doctor to really get-"

"Good." And that time, when she hugged him, it was with a tenderness Haven rarely held. Against his chest, she whispered, "I knew you would. Thank you."

"But Haven-"

"I couldn't go back," she continued on as, separating, they were given light then by the girl's arm lighting up, just enough to provide the trio with some illumination. "I was going to, but when we were leaving the temple… I wanted to get Navi help. And I did that. I got her to her mother and Erza and Laxus and… I might never get back here, Locke. I might never get this chance. I was giving up, before, because Navi needed me, but if she doesn't now then… Then I want to finish this. Don't you?"

"I hardly even know what this is."

Her hand went dark and dove down, once more, to grasp his.

"Then I'll finish telling you."

Haven told him about the different traps she'd triggered during her time there, as well as how it was all just one big puzzle, really, and she hadn't figured it all out yet, not really, but she knew it had to be done in the darkness. That if you started to retreat, it would attempt to stop you. To end you. It almost ended me. I...I ran out of static, in the air, but when Laxus discharged so much, I have some now. Just a bit, but… With you here, we can do it, Locke. We can finish this. I have an idea, but I needed someone- You. I needed you. And now we can finish this."

"Your dad-"

"We're already dead, with him. With the guild." She paused then before saying, "I'm going on. Will you come with me? Whatever we find, we have to give some to Navi...and Ravan, I guess, now, since everyone else will get some, but me and you deserve it the most anyways."

"How do you figure?"

"We're us, Locke." Even in the darkness, he felt her cold eyes. "We deserve everything."

"You are serious then?" Pantherlily let them have their moment, but it was over. "You both think that it is a good idea? I do not think that you understand what you've done. Not only have you stolen a job, but you have gotten one of your guild mates injured. You-"

"Navi's fine. And she's a big girl. She made her own decisions. She wasn't invited, she insisted to come." Now, removed somewhat from the situation, Haven was falling back into her previous confidence. It helped that she had Locke now. It helped a lot. "Locke helped her. We'll see her when we finish. If you don't want to go, Pantherlily, then-"

"Haven," Locke warned, softly and she huffed some as she tried to shake her hand free of his grip. But he wouldn't release it. "Just calm down. Both of you. We can at least finish hearing her out, Lily. What's your plan? Haven? Or your idea?"

"It's like," she grumbled softly, "I told you before. If you go back, it challenges you. Because it wants you to go forwards. So… So if we keep going, if we just mark each tunnel, like I saw Erza do, we can break it down, eventually. It'll put a monster in front of us, if we get too far off from it. The maze. Or just break the walls in general, like Laxus. It'll take a bunch of time and magic, probably, because you'll have to fight them if you get off track too much, but-"

"I thought," he complained, "you said it was a puzzle."

"I don't do puzzles." And she didn't. "I've been getting through it in my own way."

Like with everything she did.

"You're dad's gonna punish us," Locke told her simply. "After this. We'll be off job duty for awhile. A long while, I think. I want to do this right. If we're gonna do it. 'cause Lily, she's right. It doesn't matter what we do now. The Master-"

"You are grown," he told them both, but it was in clipped speaking and, clearly, he did not agree. "I cannot make decisions for you, Locke. But I do wonder; why is it that you are so concerned with punishment? And not reflection on why it was wrong to do this in the first place?"

Mostly because Locke felt disconnected towards what had befallen Navi while Haven had already gone through all of that. Were Locke there, before, when Erza and Lucy found her, she might not even been there right in that moment. She might have seen how bad off Navi still was, even after being healed, and gone home.

But she wasn't. She'd asked the bare minimum because she didn't want to know. About anything. She recognized her flaws, before, and even bemoaned them, but just like that, she was already pushing the behind her, pretending it was just enough to recognize failure rather than properly addressing it.

This wasn't true, of course, and Haven knew it, somewhere deep down, of course she did, but…

"Say whatever you want, cat." And she did have her hand free of Locke's then, turning to walk off. "I'm doing this. Punishment, no punishment. I don't feel badly about anything I've done. Ever."

They believed her, but Haven knew it was a lie.

"I'll go," Locke insisted to Lily, "wherever Haven goes. And hey, Haven, you mentioned a torch room or something? Where you set off the trap?"

It was becoming easier to find then, for the girl, and as they approached the light, she warned him to be cautious of the drop off. Lily only fluttered overhead.

"So there was a chest," Haven repeated as Locke only looked down into the pit below, "in the middle of the room. I kicked it open and it caused the floor to fall away. I was able to catch Navi and the siding and… That's it, really, for here."

"You must have done something wrong."

"Yeah, no shit, Locke."

"I'm trying to help."

"Try harder."

He huffed then, toeing the line of the fall, looking all about. "I agree with what you said before. About how we're missing part of this whole thing. There must have been a riddle or a quest, a real one, involved with this place. One we don't know. But you said that there was a piece of it that you had-"

"Had," she agreed. "Navi probably dropped it somewhere along the way. Or I did. I don't remember anymore."

Locke sighed, scratching at his head before looking to his father's Exceed pal. "Any idea, Lily?"

"This," he remarked simply, "has nothing to do with me. I am merely here to be assured of your safety. Nothing more."

Haven rolled her eyes, but said nothing as she told them instead, "It's kind of weird, isn't it, though?"

"What?" Locke asked, eyes fall back down the large pit they stood over.

"This is the only room with them. Torches. Which it doesn't want you to have."

"The Master must have figured that out," Lily offered. "He told me not to take one with us, Locke."

Nodding some what, Haven said, "So why put them here? And wouldn't that be the trap, anyways? If you picked one up? Wouldn't you think? It wanted me to find the light, do something in that room other than mess with the stupid chest, and then go into the tunnel to get a note telling me to flee from the light. I had to find it, then run from it, and now-"

"Can you take me back to it? Do you think?" Locke asked her then. "Where you were chased to?"

"No."

"Haven-"

"I don't remember, Locke. It's, like, a lot, okay, and-"

"Weren't you the one that was just going from tunnel to tunnel before, marking them down?"

"Shut up."

"You shut up. You just don't like my idea because it's not yours."

"This isn't even an idea. It's just work for me." Which she rejected wholeheartedly. And yeah, what he said before. "Idiot."

"They were chasing you," he complained. "Right? Following you? What if it wasn't that way. What if...what if the way you were going was more the way they were leading you?"

"You can't be led from behind."

"But if you could-"

"Locke-"

"You didn't finish it, Haven. Running from them."

"Because Navi-"

"I'm not saying you were wrong." Reaching out, he touched her shoulder gently. "You did the right thing. You were saving Navi. But if you kept running, what? Would you run into a dead end? When you did that before, in that other tunnel, you busted through the wall and found what you needed. Or would you have made it to another room like the torch room? It didn't just send you fleeing for no reason, Haven. There has to be a reason. Just because we don't understand it, doesn't mean it's not there."

She considered this before glancing down there, at the shadows the pit eventually turned into, before back at her boyfriend.

"I signed the wall. At the end of the hall we were running down. When I shot off my lightning." Turning away from the pit, she said, "If we can find that, then we can find the last place the...bugs were."

Locke nodded and Pantherlily seemed to want them to hurry it along, whatever they were going to do. Not wanting to risk messing with the torches, Haven lit up her arm after Locke assured her, if her powers went out, he and the Exceed would be enough muscle for the group.

"You can be the brains for once," he joked weakly and, well, Haven didn't even crack a smile, but she didn't slug him either.

"What did you do?" Haven asked eventually, as they went along. "While Navi and I were risking our lives?"

He blushed for some reason, thinking about Ravan, and only shook his head. Even more so when, finally, Haven brought the other guy up.

"He's fine," he grumbled. "I mean, he's with your father and Erza now, so… And then there was that thing with the monster-"

"The what?"

"He's," he repeated, "fine."

And Locke hated how much she cared.

It wasn't as difficult as Haven made it out. They hadn't gotten that far.

"Really let one loose, huh?" Lily remarked at the sight of the scorch on the wall and Haven wouldn't look at iether of them.

"I just wanted them to leave Navi alone." Instead of continuing on that though, she asked Locke, "Okay, so now what? We ran further down, I turned around, shot at them and then tried to head back."

"Then we continue going further down."

With no better option, she followed him along, the silence growing more uncomfortable, the longer they went along. When, inevitably, they did reach a dead end, Locke didn't even hesitate. Reared his hand pack at it turned to pure steel, slamming it with a thundering boom against the wall. As it crumbled before them, Haven didn't hesitate to jump and grab the scroll that, much like before, was awaiting her.

"You wouldn't have light," Locke pointed out simply as she snatched it from him. "If we were playing by the rules. You'd have to go back to the torch room."

But Haven never played by the rules. Literally ever.

"'In the darkness once more,'" she read by the light of her own electricity, "'as you escape the light, you're reminded that to be adrift is not a curse. A chance produced to accept your surroundings, return to the darkness and listen closely; sight does not produce the only path."

Locke grinned at Haven, but she felt sick, deep in the pit of her stomach, as it had been joy after reading over the first scroll that led her to not take note of the bugs materializing.

"What," Lily question, "do you think we should be listening for?"

But Haven heard it, as they started back down the long hall, and she couldn't help it. Her fists clinched heavily.

"It's one of them," she whispered softly to Locke. "The thumps. Do you hear them? Slow, steady. It's how they walk."

"Then I guess we better go take care of it, huh?"

She could do little more than nod.

But it was different now. Because she wasn't alone. And though it still was there, in the back of their minds, the realization that the second they left that temple, the second they finished with their job, they were both dead, oh, they were so dead, the teens found themselves enjoying it.

And maybe it was because punishment was kind of a weird thing at that age. Locke had no on to punish him, really, and the Master would try and demoralize him, sure, make him regret what he'd done, but short of that, what could the man really do? And Haven never felt her father's full power. Ever. Whatever 'demoralizing' thing he came up with, she just wouldn't do.

What could Laxus do about it?

Nothing.

No one could do anything to Haven.

Right. She was starting to remember that, then, as the job felt more like that; a job, as opposed to a damn lesson in self-reflection. It was just her and Locke (and his Exceed, fine), like it was supposed to be. Ravan had wanted it to be the two of them, there, on their S-Class job together, for the first time, and Haven would have accepted that. Enjoyed that.

But it always Locke.

Always.

Ravan had to have known that. It was why he didn't come.

Among other reasons.

"I cannot believe," Erza complained at him, "what you've done. Ravan. How could you do this? To defy not me, but also the guild, our guild, _my guild_, which I took you into, raised you. Fairy Tail has given you nothing but chances, Ravan, and what did you do? Betrayed it."

No one was there to calm her down then. To put an end to her rants. It was just the pair of them, there, in a tiny hotel in Incidio. Erza made him leave with her and the Dragneel's as they took Navi back into town, to get medical help. If the Master wanted to wait around for hid daughter to come out, which he seemed to, that was fine.

Erza had done as she promised. Brought the children to face the man's justice. If he saw it fit to allow Haven and Locke more time in that forsaken place, that was his business. And whatever he doled out to Ravan was between the teen and his master as well.

But what she did to him? What she had to say to him? That was happening right then, right there.

"What were you thinking?" Erza finally stopped there, in front of where he was sitting, on the end of an inn bed, trying hard to face her like a man, but feeling much more like a petulant child. It helped that the last time she went in on him like this, that's exactly what he'd been. "Ravan? And do not tell me you weren't. You are not stupid. You are foolish, but not stupid."

"I didn't… Navi wasn't supposed to go. Or Locke. Haven and I would have gone alone and-"

"And what? Ravan? It was still a job that-"

"I just wanted to impress Haven." There. He could tell her that. Erza. Admit that to her. He felt like he'd been rather upfront, even, with this, to the others. Even Haven herself. "That's all. I was drunk, when I first took it, and it felt like… It seemed like a fun job that-"

"Is what happened to Navi fun?"

"I wasn't there, Erza. I couldn't do anything about that."

"You shouldn't have been there in the first place."

"Erza-"

"You could be excommunicated." She stared him right in the eyes then. "Do you understand that? This isn't some...joyride. And you are not a young child any longer. Mischievous. You lied to a client, stole from the bar staff, and you've broken the trust of your master. Everything you've built in Fairy Tail gone. And why? What do you even want with the Dreyar girl? Hmmm? Because surely you could have gone about it in a way that isn't going to bring about the end of your time here."

"Master won't… He won't make me..."

"The Master," she assured him, " can do anything he likes. Ravan. You have made him look foolish. And your reasoning seems to simply be because you and his daughter… Which I do not think he'll appreciate."

"Stop talking about-"

"I will not vouch for you." If he thought that she was ribbing him a moment ago, she was not. There was no tone to be found in her voice other than finality. "Ravan. Things are not as they were. You have broken my trust. I am unsure if it can easily be regained. I myself do not know what I wish to do with you, but if Master Laxus returns and wishes for your guild mark to be removed, I will do it myself."

His breath caught and he thought he was alone. Constantly. He always had. But to be in a strange town, without Kai or Marin or Haven, even, and now, with Erza looking at him so dirty…

Where would he even go?

Without Fairy Tail?

To give up everything for, really, nothing, nothing at all…

"It might not feel that way in your youth, Ravan, I know this to be true all too well," Erza spoke then, over her shoulder as she left the room, "but there are things, simple things, that are easily done, yet are not so easy to take back. Was that not the first lesson I ever taught you?"

But for all the animosity that bubbled up around the two of them, there was none across the tiny town, in the single back room of the little doctor's office where Navi laid, resting, as both her parents and Happy jittered about. Lucy mostly sat at her bedside, alternating from softly praying to nothing to holding her hand, gently stroking it and muttering things about how excited the boys would all be, once she got home.

Natsu though couldn't sit still. Ever, really, but especially then. He paced and jumped about. Waiting wasn't his strong suit. He wanted to do something. Anything. But he was powerless to time and short of leaving, which he wouldn't do, there wasn't much else he could do, but wait.

Happy seemed the most emotional.

He sat in Lucy's lap a lot of the time, but also went to the window at others, to stare out it, and hope that he saw the others.

He never did.

The night was getting late when Erza came to check in with them. Lucy arose after gently laying her daughter's hand back over her chest to go speak with the woman outside, but Natsu stayed behind, still restless, but adamant that he couldn't leave her.

"I gotta be here," he insisted to his wife, "when she wakes up."

Lucy felt much the same, but could tell that he somehow thought it was different for him and, well, she was just too tired to argue.

It happened though, while she was outside. Not in a calm, bleary eyed way. No.

Navi literally gasped at the air, her hand coming up to grab at nothing before her as her eyes flew open and Happy thought she was dying, really, as he fluttered over. He landed on Natsu's shoulder as the man stared down at his daughter with worried eyes.

Unfocused, it took a moment for her to recognize him and, as her breathing regulated and her hand fell like a brick, she could only stare.

"Dad?"

Nodding as Happy's eyes welled with tears once more, though this time happy ones, Natsu only moved to take his reclaimed scarf off and gently lay it over his daughters chest.

"If you ever want something from me, Navi," he whispered as she cried, but not a painful one, though there was plenty of that, "all you have to do is ask. I'll give you anything."

She knew.

She'd always known.

There were no tears down in the tunnels though, for the others. None at all. There were battles and more scrolls, and more riddles and stupid shit, honestly, that Haven hated and when they got to it, when it was finally all over, and they stood there, at the bottom, she couldn't even be glade for where they ended up. Not when she looked up and, with the light jumping from her arm, she could tell, just slightly, what was above them, casting it's own light.

"The entire time," she whispered as they stood there, at the bottom of the pit and Locke was jumping about as he dug through the rubble she'd caused, when she knocked the floor above down. "The entire fucking time."

"You would have fallen to your death," Lily pointed out, following her gaze up, where the torch room stood above. "Onto what it is you seek. I do not know why you are so displeased."

Because she wouldn't have. Not her death. They weren't that far from the bottom, when they were dangling, and if Navi had...fallen, then she would have had to go down there and check on the girl and she would have found it then and...and...and…

"I found another scroll," Locke remarked even though the one before, the one that insisted they follow then the drafts that were created, there, at the bottom of the temple, all the way to where they were now, to reach the conclusion. "Should we read it? Or-"

Haven snatched it form the boy and, unfurling it, she threw it down in disgust when she saw what awaited her eyes.

"What?" Locke complained. "Haven-"

"It just says," she growled and, for someone that was concerned with conserving her static, Haven expended a lot of it as she glowed, practically, as she seethed like her father, "a single word."

"What do you mean?" Pantherlily complained as well (okay, so perhaps he was a bit invested by this point), but Locke was the one that bent down to read for himself.

"It's a name."

"What?" she snapped at him and he didn't want to get shocked by her (mainly because after all she'd put him through that day, he was liable to smack her right back), so he took a step or two back to show it off to Lily. Still, he spoke to the girl.

"Where are we?" he questioned. "Haven?"

"What are you-"

"Where," he repeated, "are we?"

"At the bottom of the-"

"Where-"

"Locke-"

"A town," he told her with a heavy gaze, "with no name. Think. If this was all a long puzzle, then it wouldn't be to find your own treasure or glory. It would be to find the answer to the question. Well, you have it."

"What," she growled at him with a frown, "do we do with it?"

Thinking, Locke looked up and shut his eyes.

"The sign?"

"Sign of what?" the Exceed asked, but he only shook his head.

"Of the gates." And he bounced some, in excitement, which wasn't really the best of ideas, given they were standing atop rubble, but a turned ankle was nothing compared to it. The thrill of a nearly completed job. "Haven, don't you get it? The sign, over the town, was blank. If we go and...and… If we fill it in, then what if-"

She snatched it from him, Haven did, before, just like that, there was only darkness save for the zig-zag of light that headed up the long drop, back towards the throne room. Locke hardly had time to consider it, that he was an idiot who'd just gotten duped, before he heard from above, "Look out!" and a torch was dropped down to them.

He nearly got hit by the falling fire.

As Lily grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt, he grumbled some over his weight, but flew up diligently regardless. The closer they got, the more relieved Locke was as he saw here there, at the edge, grinning as she waited.

It was all over. It was all nearly over.

Only, as they rushed back out of the temple, through the holes the Master had made before, they both knew there was still a chance. Still a trick that could be waiting. Something.

She nearly tripped, flying down the stairs, but Locke's hand was tightly grasped in hers and he'd never let that happen.

Mostly because she'd only pull him down as well…

A torch in his other hand, Locke led the way, mostly, through the fog, the glorious fog, and Haven felt like she could breathe again, that she could be again, until they saw them there. Not everyone. As they ran through the streets, who else would be waiting for her but her father, his dumb bodyguards, and her even dumber Uncle Elf.

Fucking gross.

Locke tried to stop, but she wouldn't let him. No. Even as they called after her, chased after them, and Lily even ordered them to stop. She couldn't. It didn't matter. Whatever they said didn't matter. She hadn't gone through all of this to have her father whisk away her victory, the true victory.

It was theirs.

Hers.

No one could ever take it away.

The town felt much shorter then, all of it, and Haven didn't quite understand everything, not really, but ti didn't matter. As they got back to the wooden gates, she let go of Locke's hand so she could shove them open before dragging him out there.

"Do it," she insisted. "Carve the name back into the sign. You have to, Locke. You- Hey!"

Laxus was there then, to grab her, and his grip was a vice as it dug so hard into her arm and Haven thought he was going to break her her bones.

He wanted to. Oh, he wanted to. He wanted to break all of her. Every ounce. And Locke didn't move, he couldn't move, as the Master's dark gaze fell on him. There was no scurrying up the gate to try and carve anything. Asking Lily fly him up to reach. No. He was done, Locke was, and he almost fell to his knees, just to submit, to beg for forgiveness.

Laxus didn't like Locke. He didn't like Ravan. But both boys respected their master immensely, in the way only a child who grew up on stories of bravery and fortitude. Who thought the man hung the moon and everything between. Gajeel admitted to Locke, once or twice, that Laxus was one of the only men he truly feared and Erza had more than passed on her reverence for the man.

But Haven had none of that.

She never had.

Laxus was a nuisance on her life, much as she was his, and she'd heard the stories. Could repeat the man's many victories backwards and forwards. Knew his prowess. Knew his power. She could feel it. It ran through her veins, comforted her to sleep when she was young, but not any more. No. Just the sight of the Locke's face when he saw her father, the way he bowed to the man, almost immediately, just gave up, just like that, fucking gave up, it enraged her.

Her other arm was free and, raising it, Haven didn't need to look at the scroll. No. She even dropped it as the static all about was more than enough for her, especially with Laxus so close. As lightning shot from her hand, over Locke's head, everyone kind of jump, confused, until they saw it. In shaky, yet legible lettering, Haven rewarded the town with no name for all the turmoil it had and was going to bring upon her life.

"There," she panted as Laxus released her and, yeah, that was definitely going to be the biggest bruise she returned with. "Tridence. The town's name. It's done."

But there was no excitement. Not from anyone around. Freed and her father looked pissed, and her uncles, as well as the one's babies, both looked awfully concerned, but Haven didn't care. About any of them.

She'd done it. She'd finished it. An S-Class job. Maybe not the way it was meant to be, but-

There was no shaking of the ground then that stopped her thoughts and no one spoke. All she felt was the stinging in her poor arm. No, rather, it was what she saw, what they all saw, before them as slowly, as if on their own, the heavy wooden gates swung full open, showing them inside not the same place they'd just been traveling through. No. Or at least not how it had been.

The fog rolled away so quickly that it was almost nauseating and when they saw it, the trickles of light not only from above, but from the town as lamps and fires and other things began to alight and there was a slight rumble, but not of the ground. No. Of the place as they heard them then. Voices. Others voices.

Elfman, confused, took a step forwards, as if to investigate, but his vision felt funny, as did everyone's, and it was fading, all of it was fading, and Haven couldn't move, frozen, captivated, as the carving she'd made in the sign seemed to glow, just for her eyes, and then it was all gone. Just as it had materialized, it was all gone.

The game was over.

And shit, she forgot to get the Professor something to prove it had ever happened.

It shimmered though, in the light they were now welcomed to, as it laid there. Right where the gate had been only seconds before.

"A lacrima," Freed whispered as he walked forward to investigate. But Haven could only grin, then, truly, finally, and she looked to her father, to Laxus, to brag. To fucking brag.

He could see her lips forming the words.

She was going to say something. She always had to say something. Even after all she'd just put everyone through, she thought she still had the right to say anything fucking thing.

It had been a long time, since Laxus struck his daughter. They didn't train together any longer and, in punishment, it had been rare for him to do so. But he did then, slapping her with such ferocity that he worried for a moment he might have knocked a tooth or two loose.

Then he hoped he did.

.

As Haven cried out, Locke finally found it in him to move, but not much. Just tense up, a fist clinched, and the slayer only snorted at him as Elfman started berating him then, but Laxus turned to walk off and, as his body guards slowly followed, his brother-in-law was yelling, but going too.

"They will," Lily whispered softly to the pair as they stood there, alone once more, "go back to town. I suggest the pair of you arrive soon enough."

As he disappeared as well, after the men, Locke only looked to Haven and her inflamed cheek.

"Are you okay?" he whispered, but, refusing to give her father the satisfaction, even if he weren't there to see it, she didn't rub at it. Only leveled her eyes at the lacrima Freed had forgotten about in his concern.

"I'm as strong as an S-Class wizard," was her only response as she went to pick up the orb and hold it in her palm. Looking to him with her bright eyes, she wasn't smiling any longer. "I've never been better."

They didn't head back to town though, Haven and Locke didn't. After consulting a map, they figured out where they were and went to the cabin, instead, to meet with the professor. Only, of course, there was no one there.

"I have been fucking looking for you shits everywhere. What the fuck? I've been lost in this forest for days! Did no one care?"

"Dad?"

Locke and Haven jumped a bit when, after finding no one home, they'd taken to sitting on the man's steps, certain he would return soon from, perhaps, a nature walk? But no, when someone came bumbling out of the woods, it was only Gajeel, a scowl and dark eyes for his son and the teen's girlfriend.

"Where have you been?" both the Redfox men question each other.

"Looking for you," Gajeel answered though, instead of his son. It was easier, anyways. "Everyone else disappeared on me! Ingrates. Even my damn kitty. I've been just going around and around in circles-"

"They were all in the city," Locke explained as he rose to his feet. "They were all in the city. They-"

"Wait." And Haven rose too, lacrima in hand as she eyed Gajeel. "You couldn't get in, could you?"

"The fuck you talking about? And hey, I got a bone to pick with-"

"You," she accused then, "couldn't get into the place. The professor said that only those with a pure heart could get in, remember, Locke?"

"W-Well-"

"Listen, girly-"

"Everyone's back in town." She held up her lacrima then, to the man. "We finished the job, by the way."

"Like I give a shit," he grumbled though a large part of him was somewhat curious. "What are your sorry asses doing here then? If you're all done?"

"We have to meet with the client," Locke explained. "We-"

"The old man's dead, morons."

And they just stood there, as they always did, as they had been many times in the past...past...forever, together, and Haven blinked some while Locke kicked at the ground.

Fucking of course.

He was mad, Locke was, that the man had died before he could be told...before they could show him...before they could explain… But Haven only shoved him.

"Dig a hole," she ordered and he looked at her like she was crazy.

"What? You think his body's still inside or something?" Gajeel was in a foul mood given how he'd spent the past few days, roughing it in the woods, but did laugh at that. There was no humor in it though. "You gonna bury him, girly?"

"A small one, Locke." She shoved him again. "Do it."

He was confused, but he fell down to do it anyways, much to the annoyance of his father. Still, Locke dug with his hands where Haven directed, at the size she ordered, at the depth she wanted.

"Do you need power?" she asked him simply when he arose. When he only stared, she said, "Because I like to get strong all on my own."

"That could be worth some fucking money, you shits," Gajeel growled as she dropped the lacrima then, down into the ground, and Locke, understanding now, was quick to kick some dirt over it. "I get it, you're spoiled little assholes, but some of us need jewels. Some of us-"

"It's not ours," Haven told him simply as she glanced up at the empty little cabin, "to take. Laxus wouldn't let us keep it, anyways. No matter what it did."

"Yeah, well-"

"It's done, Dad," Locke assured his father, but Gajeel only snorted, looking off.

Oh, no.

It was far from it.

Back in town, there was no hotel for them. Night had fallen and the train was leaving and Laxus ordered them both on it. Well, Bickslow informed them that that ws what he boss wanted and to just go along with it, okay?

"What about Ravan? And Navi?" Locke asked and the seith assured them they were both fine, but…

"It's best," Elfman assured them as he stood nearby at the train station, "to take your punishments like a man."

She felt punished already, Haven did. Before, in the spell of the town (or whatever the fuck it was), her magic seemed limitless, but she was out, practically, now that she was away from it. Not to mention exhausted. Knowing better than to sit with her family, she and Locke sat alone, in another car, away from Gajeel and Patherlily even.

Ending the trip much as they began, Haven rested her head on Locke's shoulder as she fought sleep and he only opened his palm, watching as she traced all the lines sluggishly.

"It's over," he sighed softly to her and Haven would have nodded, if she could have, but her eyes were slipping shut as his hand closed around hers. "We won."

But had they?

* * *

**Next chapter is the last chapter and then we'll do an epilogue as well. Then onto the next, yeah? **


	10. Chapter 10

The guildhall was where they were supposed to go, Haven and Locke were, as Freed informed them when everyone arrived early the next morning. Locke wanted to, he really did, but Haven didn't. Not yet.

"I'm going to sleep," she told him simply. "Real sleep. We can get yelled at later."

Gajeel felt like he should instruct them otherwise and Pantherlily tried to, but the slayer only snorted and said to let them do as they wanted; his portion of things was finished and he needed a stiff drink.

"It's hardly even ten," his Exceed complained.

"Get started early, finish early."

"Something tells me you will do one, but not the other."

Something was telling the Exceed right.

His mother seemed to be out when they got in, probably at the hall, or maybe, hopefully, even, on a job or something, so Haven and Locke just stuffed their faces with the easily accessible and then took turns in the shower.

She was already snoozing when he finished up, there, in his bed, and Locke only yawned as he fell into it as well.

Exhaustion overtook both and it would be awhile before it released them. It was hunger, actually, that awoke Locke later and, when he sat up it was to find the early morning hints of sunlight peeking through his blinds. How…

"Have, you gotta get up." He shoved her some as he tumbled out of bed. "It's been a day."

"What? Shut up, Locke."

"I'm serious."

So was she.

Still, they could hear it then, the sounds of his family from the kitchen, the clanking of plates and Gajeel complaining, like he always did, about how come he had to eat anything other than just the silverware? It made sense if you thought about it.

"No," Levy was informing him as, groggily, the teens arrived in the kitchen. "It doesn't."

While Haven merely took her seat at the table (much to the annoyance of Gajeel), Locke rushed over to hug his mother who began to question him. A lot. And Haven as well. She wasn't content, either, as she found herself out of others to list, but she did allow them all, finally, to eat.

It felt like a bad dream. The whole thing. Foggy and remote, the location did little to assuage this concept, but rather aid in it. Levy warned them of what was waiting for them up at the hall, when they left, while Gajeel merely said they should get to it. Face the music.

"Besides," Pantherlily added, "there are many people who just wish to see you are both alright."

But he meant Haven whose family had yet to see this.

She didn't want to go. Home. Or the guild. For a lot of reasons. A big one though was that it felt much safer, there, at the Redfox house. She knew that the Dreyar one would become completely off limits after this, as Laxus would rage and she'd probably have to go home, get some more stuff and then book it out of there. If Locke's parents wouldn't let her stay, then she'd have to brave the stupid old club house.

"Of course you can stay with us," Locke said as they walked down the street together, her hands shoved in her pockets and him nervously toying with his fingers . The guildhall had never caused him to be nervous before, but man, just the sight of it, looming in the distance, was enough to give him the shivers. "What do you think he's gonna do to us? I bet something super humiliating."

"For you, yeah." Haven wouldn't look at him. She refused. "He'll just yell at me. A bunch."

"If he hits you again-"

"What are you gonna do, Locke?" She grinned too, then, for the first time since they left Incidio. Bouncing on her feet, she turned halfway to look at him as they walked along. "You gonna beat up my dad for me?"

"Shut up."

"I'm asking." But she was laughing too and looking off, she said, "Laxus would murder you."

"He's going to murder me."

"I won't let him."

"He's going to murder you too, Haven."

"I," she reminded him, "am an S-Class wizard now. Basically."

"Who needed actual S-Class wizards to show up and save poor Navi."

"I didn't say she was an S-Class wizard."

They hadn't said anything, really, about her at all up to that point and both frowned, all joy removed. Just in time. They were at the gate.

For a long few moments, the pair only stared up at the sign above their heads. FAIRY TAIL. At one point, in the tunnels, Haven thought she'd never see it again. The sight alone made her pretty uncomfortable.

"Come on," she finally insisted to Locke when his eyes wound up trained more on her than the sign. "Let's go."

Haven was hounded the second she came through the door. First by her sister and her sister's stupid friend and then her aunts and her uncles were there as well and, finally, she had to go over to the bar, which her mother waited behind.

They only stared at one another though for a long few seconds, Lisanna at Haven's right and Marin behind her. But Haven said nothing as Mirajane eyed her up and down, searching for any grave injury. Finding none, Mirajane couldn't help her smile though her words had none of its sweetness in them.

"You did wrong, Haven," Mira said simply as they both watched one another. "And you got Navi hurt. Seriously hurt. Your father's not going to just forgive you for this."

She huffed some, looking off, but Mirajane wasn't done.

Reaching across the bar, the woman laid a hand on her daughter's bruised cheek, causing the blonde to flinch some, both out of confusion and irritation.

"But," her mother said softly, "I'm just glad you're okay. Haven. That you're safe. It's all I ever want for you."

She wanted to jerk away, the teen did, but something else caught her attention then as the guildhall doors opened and Kai, who was grinning over the sight (he really liked when Haven seemed almost, big almost, human), let out a sharp breath as the pit in his stomach returned.

"Erza," he whispered over it though Haven's eyes avoided the swordswoman completely.

No.

"Ravan," was all she saw and she left her family, rushing right over. Locke, who'd been waiting for her to finish up with her family, frowned some and came over as well.

"I see you've both returned as well," Erza's harsh voice greeted them as they came to a stop between the woman and her student. Ravan and Haven only stared at one another while Locke bowed his head at the swordswoman.

"I apologize, Erza," he whispered, down at his feet, "for causing you to have to-"

"Save it. Locke." She was walking around him then and over to the bar. "There is someone else you must plead your heart out to. All of you. I am nothing more than a fellow guild member."

He watched her back as she retreated, but Haven only moved forwards then, pushing Ravan, just slightly, with both hands.

"Where were you? We finished the job without you, you know."

"I figured," he grumbled as she shoved him, one more time, before just standing there before him, waiting expectantly for something of an explanation. "I had to… Erza."

That was his only attempt at an answer and, well, it was time, anyways. Freed was coming out from the back then, over to them.

"You," he told Haven and Locke, "are quite late. And Ravan, he's not expecting you, but you can accompany them. Come. Your master awaits. As does your judgment."

Freed led them there, to the back office, and Haven felt like a child again, off to get scolded and punished for teasing her sister a little bit too much. Making a mess in the game room and not cleaning it up. Shooting marbles for jewels behind the hall when Laxus told her not to.

Why did she feel so much worse, then, if it was so routine?

He knocked for them, Freed did, but as Laxus called out a gruff, "Enter," he left the trio there. As Locke and Ravan looked to her, Haven reached out to lay hand on the door knob and walk into her father's office.

He looked no less pissed then as he had the last time they saw him. At all. As they came to stand in the room, before the Master's desk, the boys flanking Haven on each side, he snorted once more, Laxus did, as his gaze met his oldest's.

They lingered, for a long few moments, before his dark irises shifted, over to Ravan, and he barked at the teen, "Where the fuck do you get off? Stealing a job from my guild? From my daughter?"

He took a deep breath, Ravan did, and his arms were clasped tightly behind his back. Erza told him before they arrived that the best thing he could do, the only thing he could do, if he wanted to get out of there alive, was to tell the truth. The absolute truth. No matter what it was.

"The Master will know," she warned him, "if you lie. I will know if you lie. The only way to ever find redemption is to be open about what you have done. You will confess your crimes to your master and he will punish you accordingly."

The way she put it felt a bit like religion. Which made sense. Erza worshiped only the enigma of Fairy Tail.

But as he opened his mouth to explain, to say something, to say anything, Haven took over.

"I told him to. To get it. To do it." She didn't even glance over at Ravan. Just stood there, calm as ever, when faced before her father. A vein jumped in his forehead, first from her interrupting, and then from her words. "Ravan wanted to do something for me. For my birthday. And I told him I wanted him to steal an S-Class job for me. How else would he know that Marin's the one who wrote them? I told him to do it because I thought it would go unnoticed, through him. I wanted them all to go with me on-"

Her father's fist slamming down with a boom onto the thick, wooden desk brought about silence from the girl. In it, Laxus growled, "You will speak when-"

"I," she kept right up, "am the one-"

"Damn it, Haven-"

"Locke and Ravan...and Navi were only doing it because I asked them to. Because I told them to. Because-"

"Of course." And he huffed as he rose to his feet, Laxus did. There was no electricity jumping from him. The man wasn't taking ragged breaths. There was something all the more terrifying though, for the two guys, to see their Master in such a way. His anger was different, not as direct, but still just as palpable as ever. "Fucking of course. Haven. It's always you, isn't it? It's always been you. Every time anything happens to someone, in my fucking guildhall, it's always you. I can't even breath around here without hearing how you-"

"I completed," she interrupted him, "the job, Laxus. It's not that big of a-"

"Shut up."

"It's not," she kept up. "You and Erza and everyone else are the ones that made this-"

"Your friend is in the hospital, Haven, because of you."

"Because she went on a job, Laxus. Any of us could be there. At any time. It's part of being a-"

"Haven," Locke whispered with a frown and Ravan wouldn't even look at her. "Just shut up and listen."

But she couldn't. She didn't want to. To anything. To anyone. Ever. But mostly her father.

"Just punish us," Haven said then, to Laxus. "Whatever it is, fine. We'll do it. Just-"

"You're gone."

He whispered it, softly, but sternly, as he shook his head. They all blinked, the teens did, confused by his statement, but Laxus wasn't. Not even close.

"You're," he repeated to his daughter as his voice raised slightly, "gone. Out of my guild. I… No more. No fucking more. I've put up with you for far too long, Haven. You torment eveyrone around you. You drag your friends out on stupid shit, nearly get them killed, you make everyone miserable. All of us. You spoiled little brat." He took in a ragged breath then before growling, "I want you gone."

Her breath was gone and Haven couldn't hear anything. Not even as Locke, for once, found his voice against his Master as he asked if he was joking. She could feel nothing, even, as Ravan reached over to grab her arm, trying to hold her there, as he insisted, too, to Laxus, that it wasn't all Haven's fault. None of it. If he would just listen to them-

"Good," she spat simply at her father before she turned then, fleeing from it. From them. She jerked away from Ravan and ignored Locke's calls as she ran, passed her family and confused guild mates, from the hall, from Fairy Tail, and all the way home. Her home. When she got there though, she didn't enter. Not at first. Just rested her head against the front door as bile crept up her stomach.

As always, she'd left chaos in her wake and Locke ran too, but not after her. No. Instead, to the only person he thought that could fix things. That could stop them. That could help him.

"Master," he panted as he headed right for the bar where Mirajane looked just as confused as all the others, "kicked Haven out of the guild."

"What?" She looked then, towards the back, before calling out for him. "Laxus! Laxus, what are you-"

"That's not right!" Elfman was headed right back there, but Evergreen reached out to hold his arm as people began to talk, loudly, about it across the hall. Kai was asking Marin how this was possible and what it meant, really, while the girl only looked to her Aunt Lisanna for answers. But she had none. At all.

No one did.

They didn't have long to wait though, before the Master was standing there, Ravan walking out before him, though his eyes only fell with concern to where Erza remained the only one seated. As she held his gaze, she showed no emotion at all and he felt like a little boy, for the concern that was etched into his face.

"Laxus." Mirajane was over at his side immediately, eyes dark, as she said, "What are you doing? Go talk to Haven. Are you stupid? Are-"

"This is not what we agreed upon," Freed reminded, softly, as he came to his other side. "Master. I… I thought you decided that the children would simply-"

"What's the big idea, man? Haven doesn't deserve this," Elfman growled and Lisanna nodded while the others who weren't so affiliated with the family mumbled something of agreement. Maybe.

Most people didn't like Haven in the guild.

Most people didn't like Haven.

But at the same time, the idea that the Master would oust his own daughter didn't bode quite well for anyone and their future in Fairy Tail.

"Boss." Bickslow stood before him then, tongue wagging, but in uncertainty. "The kid, she made a mistake. We all make mistakes. You're actin' pretty hastily, yeah? Maybe if you just take some more time-"

"Never," he growled at everyone, honestly, "question me."

"You cannot do this." Mirajane had that aura about her then, but Laxus' was just as strong and dark. "You're not going to do this."

"You don't command me, woman."

"Laxus-"

"Let it be a lesson. To all of you." And he looked out at it then, over his guildhall. Not many were in at such an early hour, but he was certain the news would quickly spread around. "This is my guildhall. If you defy me, question me, then you'll quickly be finding a new one."

Mira wasn't done though and as the pair disappeared into the back, the commotion had finally attracted the attention of those down in the game room. That's where the boys were, the twins and Ajax, and they came rushing up, all three excited for different reasons.

"Is Navi back?" her brothers asked as they looked all about for her or their parents, but Ajax only saw Ravan and Locke and knew what it really was.

"Haven!" He rushed right over to the girl's sister. "Marin, where's- What's wrong?

Marin was crying then and couldn't speak to him, didn't know what to say, about anything, but again, turned to her Aunt Lisanna, expecting something more now.

She could give her nothing.

"Go," Evergreen told her though, rushing over, "get your sister, Marin. Make sure she doesn't do something- Something else stupid. Please."

It was rare for the woman of stone to be so concerned about her oldest (sort of) niece, but Marin could see it in her face. Hear it in her tones. And as Lisanna agreed, Marin wiped at her tears, leaving Kai behind as he rushed to Erza, to insist to her, then, that this shouldn't be happening. How could the Master do that?

"The Master," Ravan spoke for her as he came over to the table as well, a stricken look on his face, "can do whatever he wants."

In all the confusion, it was easy for Ajax to escape the hall and rush after Marin. He caught her rather easily, as she wasn't too fast then, what with her trying to stop her tears. He thought that she would order him back to the hall as he caught her hand, but she didn't.

"What happened?" he asked with a frown up at the girl. "Marin?"

He knew it must be bad, given the way everyone was acting, but he also knew that Haven had come back safe from her job. It was Navi that was all beat up, his mother explained to him, the night before, when Lucy contacted them on the lacrima. She spoke with the twins who were super worried, but she assured them Navi would be home soon and was gonna be okay.

Then Uncle Laxus and his dad got back the day before. Haven with them. He didn't get to see her, but his father said she was okay. So what could have happened between then?

"Dad," Marin sniffled some as she slowed to a walk then, Ajax staring up at her with bright eyes, "kicked her out of the guild."

"What do you mean?"

"It means she's not a part of Fairy Tail any-"

"But that's not fair."

Marin could only shrug and Ajax didn't believe it because Uncle Laxus would never, ever do something that was not fair and Haven was bad, yeah, sometimes, but she was the best of the older kids. The strongest. The most fearless. She took jobs constantly and people knew her. Some people. Well, he knew her! And that's what mattered. He told everyone about how his cousin was gonna be top wizards in the top guild, their top guild, and if she wasn't in their top guild, then that meant that was a lie and that couldn't be a lie because...because…

He didn't have very good reasons. For anything. He just had emotions. A lot of them. And they weren't leading him anywhere he wanted to be.

They found Haven at the house, thankfully, and Marin hung back some, uncertain, as she and Ajax walked through the living room, back to the bedrooms.

"H-Haven?" she called out, but Ajax only ran ahead, throwing open the cracked bedroom door to reveal her.

She wasn't crying in a heap or throwing things about. There was no emotion on her face, even, as she stood there, before her bed, a duffel bag opened on it as she seemed to be packing.

"What are you doing? Stop it!" Ajax's tears were hot as they ran down his face and he came to shove at his cousin, getting a dark glare from the older girl. He didn't care. Haven was his cousin. His big cousin. "Master didn't mean it. Right, Marin? I bet if you go back, right now, and just say sorry-"

"Ajax-"

"No, Haven!" When she tried to move to placing a folded shirt in there, he knocked it away. That time got him shoved, but he was insistent. "Where are you going?"

"Away."

"To another guild?"

She didn't answer. It was all too fresh, all of it, and she could not think with him weeping on her as he was.

"Haven." Marin was coming into the room then. "I… Aunt Lisanna said that I should come and tell you-"

"Don't care."

"W-Well-"

"Marin." When her older sister looked to her, the younger Dreyar girl didn't dare look away. "I don't care."

"What did you do?" her sister asked instead, softly. "Dad wouldn't just do this because of a dumb job. Haven-"

"It doesn't matter."

"But… Ajax is right. You shouldn't...pack right now. Just go apologize. You can make up. You always make up." Marin was coming closer. "Haven, don't do this. You always do. Something brash and without thinking and… You know that you're not going anywhere."

She looked away from her younger sister then, and back down at her bag, giving no response. As she moved to shove something else in there though, once more, Ajax reminded her of his presence by shoving her hand away.

"Jack," Mari warned, but Haven was on him then, finally full turning to face the boy. He saw it, the anger in her face, and he thought he was going to get jerked by his ear or yelled at. But as she stood there, breathing heavily, Haven stared down into his tearful eyes for a long few moments before, slowly, bending down to rest her hands on both his shoulders.

"It's okay, Ajax," she said as he tried to stop it, his sniveling, but he couldn't help it. "You're not hurt. I'm not hurt. So why are you crying?"

Because…

He didn't have siblings; his cousins were his big sisters, practically. They were there every single day of his life when he was growing up. Haven was gone now, a lot, yeah, but that didn't mean she wasn't around still. That she wasn't Haven still. Yeah, she was mean and bossy and sometimes he thought that maybe she didn't care too much for him, but she was always there when he didn't understand a spell or to defend him when his mother was being too harsh. She let him sleep in her bed, when he was little and would spend the night and didn't mind that he asked too many questions. Or if she did, she didn't make a big deal about it. Not like she did with others. She didn't yell at him or anything like that. Ever.

Only half an hour ago, he was anxiously awaiting her return, so she could tell him about what it was like, to be on a super secret S-Class job. Then it felt like the rug was just pulled right out from under him and now everything was changing. How could it all change? So fast? It didn't make sense.

"It's not fair," he told her. "Haven. You don't have to go. Where are you going? Are you gonna come back? You have to! You're a part of Fairy Tail. That means...that means that… How could Uncle Laxus just decide you're not? It's not fair."

"I was always going to leave." She whispered that, softly, as it was the first time she said it aloud. "It's sudden, fine, but I was… I don't belong at Fairy Tail."

"How can you say that? Of course you do! You do more than anyone! You're gonna be guild master after Uncle Laxus. Just like his gramps was. How could you forget, Haven? You're a Dreyar." He was snotty then and gross and too old to get this way, but everything was just moving too fast. He spent so much of his life tumbling about, trying newer, higher, quicker, more dangerous tricks and jumps and spins and he got hurt. A lot. The wind was knocked out of him many times in his short few years. But never like this. Not even close. "Dreyars are always Fairies. Right? So… So what are you then?"

She didn't have an answer. The wind had been knocked out of her too. But Haven was, above all else, a mage. You had to adapt. You couldn't dwell.

"I'm your cousin. Silly." And she shoved his head then as he reached up to rub at his eyes. "This has nothing to do with you, 'jax. I just need to leave. Right now. Fairy Tail and Magnolia. I… I shouldn't have come back."

"What do you mean?" Marin whispered and Haven glanced at her again, having forgotten the other girl was there.

"When I was on my job, I knew," she breathed and Marin felt cold then. Very cold. "I get it, okay? This is new for you. Right now. But.. It's not for me. I know what I'm doing, Marin."

"I don't believe you."

"Then don't."

"Haven-"

But her eyes were back on Ajax then and, gently, she patted at his shoulder.

"I won't be gone forever," she told him simply. "It's nothing to cry about. I'm not dead. I'm just leaving. That's what you do, when you get this old. You leave. And you start your own life. You can't stay somewhere forever. Or at least I can't. You'll get it, one day."

"But Haven-"

"Hush. 'jax. And listen to me." Bowing her head, she rested it against her cousin's as she told him, "When I get back, I'm going to be more powerful than you can even dreams. I swear it. And I want you to be too. Promise me. I want you to go out on jobs and I want you to stronger than I was, when I was your age. You should be. I helped train you. Okay?"

"I don't want you to go."

"But I want to go." Taking a step back from him, she even smiled, a real one, a comforting one for him, though it only haunted Marin in the moment. "Now go back to the guild. And dry your tears before you do. Do you want the twins to think that you're the baby? And not them?"

He shook his head and sniffled, pawing at his face then with both hands. With one last sniffle, he moved then to toss his arms around his cousin and though Haven usually pushed him away, she did pat him on the back then and assured him it wouldn't be long.

"I'll see you," she whispered, "before I leave."

"I love you," he told her truthfully and Haven nodded.

"I," she agreed, "love you too."

Still, it didn't feel real for the boy as he fled his aunt and uncle's home. He almost ran into Locke, too, as he tore down the sidewalk, but he didn't even stop to apologize. He thought if he ran, then maybe it would just look like sweat, when he got back, rather than tears that still, stubbornly, continued to fall.

Back inside the house though, it was just the Dreyar girls then and, as Haven turned to continue on with her packing, Marin came to stand at her side.

"You're really doing it?"

"I told you, Marin, that I felt it, out on my job. I-"

"What happened to Navi?" her sister asked then. "I heard from Elf and Bickslow, but… What really happened?"

"She got hurt. Bugs got… She got hurt. Or poisoned. Or something."

"But you were alone."

"What about it?"

"Haven, if you think that it was your fault-"

"Shut up, Marin."

"But-"

"I don't think that anything's my fault," Haven told her then and, yeah, that sounded about right. But then her older sister continued. "I don't think anything anyone's fault. At all. Everything happens because it happens and there's nothing else to it. I haven't wanted to be here for a _long_ time. And if he thinks that he's punishing me, that I'm going to go grovel at his feet, to beg to be in his guild, Laxus can get fucked. 'cause I'm not. I will never do that. His guild…Fairy Tail… It might not need me, but I don't need it either."

"How can you say that? Haven? How can you fucking say that?"

She knew he was there, of course, because she always knew when Locke was near. It went beyond hearing his footsteps or feeling his magical energy. She just recognized his presence alone. Marin frowned over at her shoulder to where the older teen stood in the doorway of their bedroom, but Haven refused to look at him.

"Go away, Locke," was all Haven said in response. "Aren't you tired of being around one another yet?"

"Haven-"

"I mean, I get it, I'm great and everything, but absence makes the heart-"

"What are you doing?" Coming closer, he frowned down at her bag before at her. "Are you serious? You're gonna just leave?"

"I-"

"You think," he went on, "that we're just gonna go on our trip with your father all pissy like this? No. We can't."

"Y-Your trip?" Marin looked between them before frowning, deeply. Sympathetically. "Oh, Locke..."

"What?" He was beside the sisters then, but still couldn't get the gaze of the one he wanted. "Is that not what you're doing? Haven?"

Shit.

She glared at the wall across from her then, instead of at him, because she'd honestly forgotten, in all her anger and then sadness when addressing her little cousin that Locke, well, really, that Locke existed. That anyone existed. Outside of herself.

Their trip was so far from her mind that it was kind of beyond the girl that he would even think of it.

"I-I'll be in the living room. Or the kitchen. Outside?" Marin was rushing away then from the powder keg before her. "Haven. Locke. If you need me."

But they wouldn't, she knew.

"What," he asked then, more directly, "are you packing for, Haven?"

"What do you think?"

"Haven-"

"Would you just stop saying my name," she begged as she jerked her arm away when he tried to grab it, "for one second? Please?"

"This is just all too much," he told her then. "For your father. You were acting like an ass in his office. And he reacted. That's it. That's all. Your mother is going to go talk to him and she'll get this all straightened out. She-"

"I don't want my mother to do anything for me."

Her name caught in his throat and, instead, he only huffed before asking, "Then what are you going to do? Huh? Where are yu gonna go? Without your guild? Fairy Tail? You just gonna live on the streets of Magnolia? And I said you could stay for a few days, but there's no way my mom and dad are gonna be cool with-"

"I'm leaving, Locke."

"But for where? Ever's not going to want you and you know that Lisanna and Bickslow's place is super cramped and-"

"I'm leaving."

"And Navi's not going to be well, not for awhile, and…if you just gave me some time, maybe, I could find us a place. I need to move out. I want to move out. Anyways. I've been thinking about it and if we moved in together-"

"I'm leaving."

"No." He shook his head that time. "You're not. If you would just listen to me-"

"Why does no one ever listen to me? I've told you my entire life that, when I got old enough, I would-"

"You're not."

"And fuck Laxus, but gosh, if this is a going away present, a way to make sure I don't fuck up and come back, then it's the best one I've ever gotten-"

"You can't."

"I have to."

"I won't let you."

"Locke-"

"You can't go, Haven. Where would you go?" And now his scope was broader. "Huh? You're gonna be out on the street, what? Wandering around? Lost? With no guild? You think your father is going ot let you do that? Join another guild?"

"How could he stop me?"

"Are you stupid? He knows all the local guilds! He won't let someone else take you on. He'll talk to them and write them all and you'll be black listed, or whatever, and then what, huh? You're going to come back and have to do it. Ask him- Not beg. You don't have to beg. Just ask for forgiveness and I'll go with you and-"

"I'm not doing that."

"All this because of a fucking job? A fucking job?" He had it in him too, Locke did. He hid it well. He always had. But it was there. Hiding beneath. His mother's good nature won out most of the time, but he was Black Steel's son without a doubt. And as he growled, loudly, it showed itself. "This isn't your fault. Why the fuck did you say that in there? That it was? Ravan did this. Ravan. You have to go back and tell the Master that it was Ravan. That you were...that you… Why, Haven? Why did you-"

"It has nothing to do with him."

"If he hadn't-"

"Leave him alone. While I'm gone. And he'll leave you alone."

"Haven-"

"I thought Navi was dead, Locke." She faced him fully then and her eyes weren't watery. Just calm. Serious. "When I was dragging her around down there. I thought that I would have to…that… I didn't think I cared about people that much, but I really did. It scared me, her being that way."

"But she's okay. She'll back soon and then-"

"That's not what it's about."

"Then-"

"Laxus is right."

"About what? Huh? No. He doesn't know the whole story. He's just mad. He-"

"I'm not good here."

"How can you-"

"People don't like me, Locke," she told him. "At all. My own family doesn't."

"I like you. I love you. And so do all of them."

"I'm not a good person."

"Who is a good person? I'm not a good person. I'm terrible one. Really. And so is your dad and my dad and...and… Haven, you're so good. You're great. You're-"

"I'm miserable," she told him flatly. "And that's why I make everyone else so miserable. I've never been happy here. Not that I remember. I don't know why. I have everything I need, don't I? But I've always wanted more. I've always had to have more. So I fuck up the lives of everyone else, all around me, constantly, just to make myself feel better about not being happy."

"That's not true."

"You know it is."

"What are you even talking about? When we were kids? Everyone's a dick when they're kids. You're not a kid anymore, Haven. We're not kids anymore. You don't have to...to…be a part of Fairy Tail. If you don't want. Is that what this is about? Fine. Do something else. Here. You have to be here. You need to be here. I'm here. Haven. Why are you doing this to me?"

"I'm not doing anything to you." For once. "I'm doing something for me."

"If you would just wait, you and your father… I can't… Where are you going to go?" This time, his tone was one of true curiosity and Haven could only shrug. "No. You said that you thought about it. So where. Where, Haven?"

"Just away," she told him softly. "Anywhere. Everywhere. I don't want to join one. Another guild. I don't think. I've never…. I don't belong in one, Locke. At least not one like this."

"You're just gonna be alone? What? A mercenary?"

"Anything's better than what I am right now." She was the one forcing his gaze then and, softly, she asked, "Don't you ever listen? I've told you since we were little kids that I was going to leave. Is it really that big of a surprise to you?"

Yes.

It was.

Because he listened. All the time. Haven said shit all the time and it never meant anything. But the look in her eye in that moment, the way she reached out to hold one of his hands, it all felt…

"But alone?" he questioned again and the request was there. He could feel it in him.

If she asked…

If she wanted…

He'd go.

He'd go anywhere, in that moment, that she wanted. He'd ditch it. All of it. For her. He always told her that. That he'd do whatever she wanted. It's the only way he knew.

But that was the thing. When she made all those plans. The one part that they never spoke on. That she never mentioned and he never questioned, never knew that he had to. Where did he fit in? Where did they? Together? If Haven was leaving, what was Locke doing?

Going with her. He would go with her. He had to. She had to want him to. Didn't she?

His heart was in his throat and he wasn't going to ask, because he couldn't stand to be told no, it would crush him if he was denied, but as he stared at her, his red eyes wondering, he knew that Haven knew what he meant. He knew that she knew exactly what he wanted to hear.

"Alone."

But she wouldn't give it to him.

Locke teared up and he kept begging her to just wait and Haven assured him she would. She had to go back into the hall, later, anyways. To get her mark removed. She wasn't going anywhere. Not yet.

"I just need time," she told him simply. "To be alone. For a bit. Locke."

"Haven..."

"You're worse than 'jax."

That didn't make him laugh, but did make him reach up to rub at his eyes and she was reaching up to, but for her neck and, slowly, she removed what dangled there. Had always dangled there. For so many years that she felt naked, really, when she removed it. She only did, after all, to shower.

"What-"

"Keep this."

She laid the little gem that they'd won, all the way back when they were barely taking jobs, that they got on their first, big, real job, together, into his palm and Locke closed his hand tightly around it. As more tears threatened to fall, she only shook her head.

"It's how you know I'll be back. To see you. To get it. Before I'm really gone," she insisted. "Idiot."

They hugged and kissed and it felt weird then, in her bedroom, because they were never there, really, at all, but when he left, Locke felt a bit better. The chain was much too small for him to wear and that was fine because he only wrapped it around his wrist, locking it in place there as the gem laid against the veins there.

"You aren't really gonna do it? Are you?"

"Marin, I just told Locke that I wanted to be alone."

"It's my room." Their room. But hers then,. For awhile by that point. "Haven."

As her younger sister came back then, Haven turned to face her once more and they only stared at one another. There was no animosity, but not really a sadness either. No foreboding. No nothing. It was like Haven thought, before, back in the temple; she and Marin were sisters, fine, they were bound by blood, but there was no real love there.

Not truly.

No more than had to be.

"Why are you acting like this has to be done right now?" Marin questioned and, when she advanced that time, it was to go back over and fold the clothes Haven had better. So she could pack more efficiently. This made Haven blink in surprise, but she didn't move to stop the younger girl. "Haven? So he kicked you out of the guild. Maybe the house. But that doesn't mean you have to leave this minute. Does it?"

"I won't. I-"

"Don't lie to me. Please. I-I deserve the truth. I'm your sister, Haven. Mom wouldn't lie to Aunt Lisanna, would she?"

She considered this in silence, the older girl did, as the younger turned then, to go over the dresser and rifle through it for other things she thought her sister might need. It was while Marin's back was to her that Haven spoke.

"Do you remember when we were little kids? Aunt Ever and Elf took us out camping, just the four of us, and she was miserable the whole time and they were so busy fighting that they sent me and you out, alone, to collect the firewood? And I-"

"You threw me in the river."

"You tripped."

"I remember. I was falling and you shoved me."

"Whatever." Haven didn't feel up for arguing such trivial things. "You fell in and it was kind of cold out and we weren't supposed to get wet and you cried and cried and Elf sat with you by the fire, while you warmed up, while Aunt Ever made me go walking with her. You remember, don't you?"

"We roasted marshmallows," Marin whispered softly. "I was really little, then, so Elf was worried I'd get sick. It was before my lacrima. And he told me, if I wanted, we could go home, but-"

"Ever told me that I was horrible. My entire life. That I'd always been horrible and that I treated you and everyone else the same way and that if I didn't change, then a monster would come for me, one night, and snatch me away. And no one would look for me because they'd be glad I was gone."

Marin considered this before nodding slightly. It sounded exactly like something Evergreen would tell a young Haven.

"It didn't make you change any."

"No," Haven agreed. "It didn't."

"So-"

"I wanted it to come," her older sister went on. "The monster. I would wait up for it, late at night. I even would be sure to set the skateboard in a certain way, in front of the door, and hope he tripped on it. And he did. Or, Laxus did. One night. When he came in late, to check on us. It was so dark that I assumed I'd caught him, the monster, and I shot him up full of lightning. It's not like it hurt Laxus, but he was pretty pissed. Do you remember that?"

"Kind of."

"He asked why I'd done that and thought I was just picking on him, but I told him then, about how I wasn't gonna change for some stupid monster and that if the monster was gonna come to get me for it, then he better be ready. Then Laxus made me explain to him what I was talking about and he was pretty pissed. At Evergreen. I don't think we spoke again for a long time, me and her. She'd ignore me, when I'd sit with Elf at the hall, and only Aunt Lisanna would babysit me then."

"W-Well, it was kind of mean, I guess, for her to-"

"That's not my point."

"Then what is?"

"I tried to be different. When we got older. To be...nicer. To everyone." She looked away then, from her sister, and off, over at one of the pictures Marin had tacked up by her bed. One of her and Kai. "I became friends with stupid Ravan and I tried not to argue with Locke so much and Navi, stupid Navi, I let go. I let her do whatever she wanted. I could have made her come around more, you know. I could have. If I wanted. But I thought, if she wanted to do her dumb writing stuff then...if I just let her… If I stopped picking on you and making fun of Kai and if I just ignored Laxus, just left him alone, just avoided him, then it would all eventually feel okay. I would feel okay.

"But I was wrong. I was right, back when I was little and was going to fight the monster though. I can't change. I'm me. I'm not nice, I'm not loving, and I don't want that returned to me. Not by you, not by mom, not by anyone. I'm miserable because I've been trying, my whole life, to make this work, but it won't. Here. I did everything I could to make myself wanna stay. I've spent a year dating Locke, just because I thought...I thought that would make me… And I stopped telling him, so much, about how much I hated it here, because I thought… I do care about Locke, Marin."

"I know."

"But… If the only person I really care about here can't make me wanna stay, then why should I?"

She was still facing the dresser, but Marin wasn't looking for anything. Not anymore. No. Instead, she just stared at where her hand was, hovering over something, poised to pick it up, but not moving. Finally, she dropped it back to her side as she spoke.

"Don't," she whispered, "you care about me? Haven?"

"Marin-"

"I don't care if you don't feel it. Or don't think it. You're my sister and I do love you and I do care about you and yeah, Ever's right, everyone's right, you are horrible and you do make me miserable sometimes, or at least you used to, and I don't want you to leave, but if it makes you...if you're… If you don't want to be here, Haven, then yeah. You should go. I just… If you can't be happy with us, then you should go be happy somewhere else."

She was crying again, Marin was, and when she moved towards her sister, for the first time, Haven accepted her with open arms. They stood there for a bit, in their too small room that they'd spent years hating and wishing for another, the promised one, in the house Laxus' said would have a treehouse and they could get a dog, maybe, even, and it never came.

No.

"You'll be alright, Marin," her older sister whispered into her white hair. "Without me. You'll be better, even. Most everyone will. And it's not like I'm dying. Or gonna be gone forever. Or something like that. I just…"

"You can't stay," her sister finished for her as she shifted back some, Haven's arms slowly falling from around her. "J-Just remember that, you know, if you need me for something-"

Haven didn't let her finish as she laughed. But it wasn't malicious. And, reaching up that time, she held both her sister's cheeks in her palms, staring into her similar blues.

"You," she told her simply, "are a dragon slayer, Marin. I gave you that, when we were kids, because I wanted you to be strong. You have to be strong. The guild might need you one day. Without me around, I bet you guys will probably need, like, two slayers, even, just to replace me."

"Haven-"

"Next time we meet," her sister went on and that time, when her hands fell, it was for the last, "we might not be fighting the same thing."

"W-What do you mean?"

"Who knows who Fairy Tail will be up against? Who I'll be aligned with? Where I'll be or where you'll be." She knocked her in the head, gently then, before turning back to her bag to finish preparing it. "Don't make it too easy to kick your ass, huh?"

Marin just shook her head though, watching her sister silently for a minute. Then, softly, she whispered, "I'll miss you, Haven."

Nodding, she glanced over at her again. "I'll miss you too."

Haven went back to the guild after she finished up there, lingering around the house for a bit. Taking it all in. Marin disappeared not soon after their conversation and she thought someone else would come. An aunt or uncle. Her mother or father. But no one did. No one at all.

The guildhall was dead that day as most everyone could feel the tension the Master had dispersed around and her Aunt Lisanna was behind the bar and looked about ready to call out to her, as she walked passed, but she caught herself. Let her go.

She wasn't headed for the back though.

No.

No one was on the deck that overlooked Magnolia and Haven leaned up against the railing, taking it all in for herself. As much as she hated it, the entire town, the entire time, it was beautiful regardless of the time of year.

The hours had set in and it was becoming less of a difficulty to believe that she was really doing it, yet still, some doubts clung to her. Heavily. This was more than being conflicted, because she knew she was making the right decision, she'd always known, she'd always planned and yet there something, something deep insider of her that just keep telling her that they were right. If she waited it out, then her father would probably let her join back up and they could all go to normal, eventually. Maybe.

But you had to keep moving forwards in life. When you recognized something about yourself, something so deep, you had to acknowledge it. Not bury it. Or else you would end up miserable, like Laxus, Haven knew.

Like most the adults in her life, honestly.

Kai was feeling much the same as he stalked around the room he shared with his brother, listening to the silence that was coming from the living room. Ravan and Erza were supposed to be discussing 'things' in there and he was not to interrupt, but with Marin dealing with her own turmoil and the bar seeming to be a no go for the day, this left Kai with little else to do, but contemplate his own ambivalence.

When he heard Ravan leave the living room and head off to the bathroom, Kai knew it was his moment. It had to be. Sure, the timing was difficult and yes, the Haven thing was still a mind fuck, but still. He and Marin had already decided when Erza came back that he would tell her...that he would talk about… So Haven was the one interrupting his own, personal drama. No the other way around.

"Kai," she remarked with a frown when he found her in the kitchen, getting a glass of water it seemed as she and Ravan took a break from silently sitting. Or whatever they were doing. Still, she was displeased when he walked in and said simply, "I thouhgt I told you to go-"

"I have to talk to you."

"I am busy."

"Erza, it's important."

"If this is one of your games-"

"It's not."

"Kai-"

"I'm serious." He stared hard at her and he couldn't stumble, not over a single thing, not when talking to her. Not Erza. The Dreyars were one thing; Erza was a complete other. The breath he took about made him throw up and his voice was a bit out of whack, but he still managed to tell her, "I'm gay."

She blinked. Then she frowned. Then she eyed him.

"Yes," she agreed slowly. "And what of it?"

"I- Wait, what?"

"Is there more?"

"Should there be?" he asked, incredulous. "I mean-"

"What are you doing, Kai?" And Ravan was back then, frowning at his brother. "Erza told you to go-"

"He's being a nuisance. Like usual." She huffed some, the swordswoman did, turning back to the sink to refill her water cup once more. "Kai, I am very busy with your brother right now. And you come in, to..what? Inform me of things I already know? Tell me, what's the color of the sky? My hair? How many fingers do I have?"

"What did you say?" Ravan asked with a frown at his brother who only blushed.

"Just that...that I… I'm gay."

"Why?"

"Am I?"

"Are you telling Erza that?" Ravan was going to get his own glass then. "Stupid."

"I'm not stupid!" Huffing again, he looked back to Erza as he asked, "So you already knew?"

"Yes," she repeated again, slowly, as she turned to face him once more. The boy wasn't making much sense and she thought this was one of his typical ruses. She'd been gone a few days and not spent any time with him yet, so he was going to force an issue. "Should we not know?"

"Did Mrs. Master tell you? Or Marin?"

"Why would they, Kai? Also inform us of known things? If this is a game, then I am not enjoying myself."

"How," he complained then, glaring from his brother to the woman, "did you know then?"

"Was it a secret?" Erza asked, not enjoying his tone. Nor him, really, at the moment. "Kai?"

"I...I thought, but-"

Ravan only took a long sip of water though, headed back to the kitchen. Still, he patted his younger brother on the head as he went.

"You didn't keep it very well, then," the older boy quipped as Kai was so confused and looked very upset. So, with a groan, Erza set her glass down before walking over to him.

"Was I supposed to be surprised?" she asked him softly and the boy merely shrugged. "Forgive me then. Have we not spoken on this before? I assumed we had in some way. Perhaps I overheard you and your brother speak on it?"

"No," he grumbled and he didn't know why it made him so angry, that they were, apparently, not only super cool and chill about the whole thing, but also super uninterested and already knew all about it. "What makes you think that I'm… How would I be different? If I liked girls?"

"I do not know," Erza answered truthfully. "But what indication have you ever given me that you are?"

"What?" He groaned. "Erza-"

"Why do you feel the need to speak on this now? Kai? Has something happened?" She looked downright giddy then, at the idea, as she questioned, "Have you...met someone?"

She'd lived for these moments. For years. The idea of Ravan or Kai 'meeting someone' and her getting to play the concerned authority figure in the situation had always been a dream of hers. She could give guidance, offer wisdom. She could take them places (or she'd hoped to, when the boys were younger...they were late bloomers, unfortunately, in that regard) or have dinner with the parents of the other child. Yes.

"No," he groaned and it was hard enough, coming to terms with things himself. The idea of having to also expect a peer, who other than Marin, he typically didn't have, to also come to the same understanding about themselves was just too much. To ask. To hope. To think about. No. Not in reality. "It wasn't that."

"Have you been," she she sounded vengeful because, yes, she also dreamed of this, a justice bringer to the world, "been harassed?"

"Why are you so weird?" he complained, but Erza only sighed.

"What is it then, Kai?"

"I just… Evergreen thought that Marin and I were...dating and then I had to tell Marin because I was scared that she'd think that, but she didn't, and then I had to tell Mirajane, but she seemed to know too and..."

It was really shitty.

That no one was letting him take them by surprise.

Sighing loudly, Erza reached out then and he feared she'd slam his head, as she typically did, against her armor, but she didn't. She only rested a hand there, on the back of his head, stroking his shaggy hair gently as she told him, "I am glad that you have come to me with this. To tell me something about your life. I do not know why Evergreen even thought that, truly, about you and Marin. Do you recall earlier in the week? Before your brother left on his misadventure? I told you both about the harsh expectations that we place on friendship and how we expect all relationships to become a bond of marriage, but it's just not so. It should not be so. You can draw pleasure in other ways, from others, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. The important of a relation is not hinged on the sexual nature of it. Or at least it should not be. I was speaking, at the time, on your brother, but I supposed I should have meant another Dreyar girl."

Kai was finally done with the woman and her riddles and only thanked her, softly, as she hummed, lost in thought then and he only slunk off to the living room where his brother was waiting for him. He figured his brother would be in a bad mood, given the whole Haven news, but as he slowly sat beside him on the couch, Ravan didn't shove him off or tell him to get the fuck out.

"What," he asked simply, "did Erza say?"

"I think she tried to give me a sex talk."

Ravan merely nodded.

Yep.

The sun was setting by then and the guild should have been open for many more hours, but most everyone cleared out as the impending shit storm that was brewing only got closer to landing. And, eventually, Haven was joined out there on the overlook.

"Your father," she heard the man's voice behind her, "has requested your presence."

She frowned at Freed as she turned to face him and asked, "Don't you ever get tired of doing his bidding?"

But she got no response in return and as they walked through the oddly empty hall, Haven considered what it would mean. To not wake up the next morning and eat there, with Locke and Navi. To have a drink there after a job. It was a little over a year ago that she first started sneaking them, drinks, with Locke, before realizing no one seemed to give a shit, and now it was a huge part of her life, hanging around the hall, drinking with her friends, and it would just be gone.

Just like that.

She thought that it should provide her something of a comfort, maybe, that in that short year, she came to crave it so much, and didn't that mean that, if she could just find a new place, a new normal, that within a year, it would be commonplace again, all of it, for her.

It didn't though, make her feel better. Nothing could. Not for the time being. She felt just as pensive as she had before, when she'd gone upstairs. Now though, Freed was marching her much like he had earlier in the day, when things were still making something of sense, but he didn't knock this time. Haven didn't either.

She just opened the door, alone, and went in.

Her mother was there, standing along side where her father sat at his desk, and the woman had been crying, it was clear, but she was trying her hardest not to look it. Haven had no way of knowing but her last few hours had nothing on the ones the demon and dragon had just gone through. From the moment she left the hall, Mirajane and Laxus had arguments that would wane and swell, her leaving at times only to get hyped back up again and rushing right back to start it all over again.

"If you do this," Mira threatened at last, right before Laxus called for Freed to bring him Haven, "Laxus, I will never forgive you. Sending our daughter away-"

"I'm not," he growled right back, "sending here away. I'm kicking her out of the guild. I didn't say she had to leave anything other than that. What she chooses to do-"

"You know exactly what you're doing."

Yeah. He did. The right thing.

Haven, for far too long, had taken away some of his control in the guild. When she was a little girl, he blamed himself. He wasn't...well, when he got back after being gone for nearly a year of her early life. He was sickly and not in the best of moods, having to readjust for life. Then Mirajane insisted on a second child and it just became...easier, to give Haven whatever she wanted because her sister was sick and that meant that Marin got a lot of things and was that fair? Was anything fair? This only led to it being more difficult when someone did need to tell her no and Laxus didn't want to be the one to do that. Not when he could just avoid the problem, ignore the problem, and just let it resolve itself.

But it didn't.

And he still blamed himself, really, because of that. It was never going to go away. As Haven grew, she matured and didn't throw fits at the drop of the hat and her days weren't spent tormenting the other children, but rather either out on jobs, where she took far too many risks and, instead of causing mass destruction like most the others, seemed intent on leaving injuries in her wake. Either that or training where her intent was much the same. And when she was home, around, she drank until she pissed someone off in the hall and then she was fighting. Constantly. And Haven didn't fight like most people fought. She really wanted to fuck up someone who crossed her.

Wash, rinse, repeat, day in and day out, and now they were her, with her stealing S-Class jobs and nearly killing one of her friends.

The worst? The worst part was that Laxus still wasn't going to kick her out. He couldn't, that day, when he woke up. Even though Haven didn't even go with Navi, she ditched her the second she could, pawned off on someone else, rather than seeing her treatment through. She had to finish the 'job' she'd stolen and it was outrageous that she thought, even for a moment, that she had a right to take pride in that. As if it were an accomplishment. While Navi was laid up in a hospital.

Yet, he still was just going to yell at them some. All three of them. It had felt good, the day before, to strike his daughter, and that took some of the anger out, showed enough of a message, he felt. Ravan was going to have to work the bar with Marin and Kai, Locke was going to be off job duty and Laxus was going to inform him that he was begin considered for S-Class, but certainty not now. And Navi… Laxus wasn't even sure if _she_ would want to be in the guild anymore.

It was all going to blow over.

Then she had to go and do it. Treat him like shit. Right there. In front of the others. To prove a point. Pull her weight. She knew that Laxus had nothing on her, that he wouldn't do anything to her, that he would just let her get away with it, so she had to show him up. In front of her boyfriend. And whatever the fuck Ravan was. Because they both bowed to Laxus and she couldn't have them doing that. No. Not if she was going to keep them bowing to her.

Yeah, it had been in anger, when he first snapped at her, but as that fled and he argued it with his wife, Laxus fell into the realization that this was for the best. This was what was needed. This is what had to happen. This is what everything had been coming to, working towards, for years and years and now it was finally coming to a head.

Haven had spit on Fairy Tail and its master for the last time.

If she didn't want to be there, and her behavior exhibited this very well, then fine; she no longer would be.

It was as easy as that.

But it wasn't easy because even though he and Haven were not speaking currently, she was still that. Haven. She looked so different then, in those days. She was older and a woman now, really, and doing her own thing and he knew this was happen, it was the lifestyle he'd always ascribed for her, wanted for her, and now it was here.

Her shit attitude and all, Haven was without a doubt his child.

And he hated it. Every ounce of it.

"She's going to though, Laxus, and you know it," Mirajane insisted to him and she was crying then, during that argument. "She's going to leave and she's never going to come back."

"You're being dramatic."

"You are! Why are you doing this? Laxus? Why?"

Much like his daughter though, he had no answer. Only the assurance that, "It has to be done."

As Haven stood before him then, finally, the slayer had to set his face because she'd set hers and it neither was going to lose their unspoken battle. Not when the end to the war was on the horizon.

"Haven," he finally spoke and his voice was low as she only rolled her eyes, quite heavily, just from the sound of his voice. "You're not even remorseful, are you?'

"I haven't done anything," she retorted simply. Well, she had. She'd admitted (lie or not) to conspiring to stealing an S-Class job. But other than that? Absolutely nothing. "So no. I don't."

He wanted to yell at her. He could then. He really could. No one was there. Just her mother and Freed. Maybe Lisanna. He could let loose on Haven all the things that had been swirling around the surface between the two of them for so fucking long...but he didn't. Everything he thought of got caught in his chest and it burned so badly, he couldn't imagine even a heart-attack felt nearly as bad.

Laxus nodded to his wife, signaling it was time, but Mirajane didn't move. Not an inch. Only stood there, staring at Haven, and she couldn't. She wouldn't. How could he ask her to do this? How-

"You do it," Laxus told her softly then as Haven only watched, "or I'll do it myself, Mira."

Her steps were slow, but the office wasn't that big and, once she was in front of Haven, Mirajane couldn't help it. She didn't care what Laxus said, what Laxus thought; Haven was still their daughter. And whether he recognized this or not, he knew she was hurting. That this was hurting her. That it would hurt her, whether she realized it in that moment or not.

"Turn around," Mira whispered softly. "Haven."

She did so and lifted up the back of her shirt, just slightly, showing off the dark black emblem that she'd had for so many years, it would be weird, from then on, to not catch a glimpse of it in a mirror after a shower.

"I still remember," her mother was going on then, "when I gave this to you. Do you? You were so upset, because Locke was getting one and Laxus, you didn't want her to have one, but she was so insistent and then-"

"I'll do it," Haven threatened, softly, to her mother. Or perhaps it was more of an offering. "If you can't."

She could feel it too, Haven could, the way her magic changed without it. She felt...empty. Alone. But there were no tears and, when she turned to face her parents, she swallowed some before saying, "I'll be gone in the morning."

"Haven," Mira whispered and reached for her, but she didn't want them. Either of them. She hadn't in a long time.

She saw through her. Her mother. Her tears and sadness and anger and whatever else had gone on in those few hours, she knew it wasn't all for show, oh no, it was worse. Mira did feel all those things, maybe even as intensely as she was portraying, but not for the right reasons. She knew her mother wouldn't miss her. She knew her father wouldn't either. But they would miss the idea of her. They would hate the concept of her being gone.

"I just thought," she finished and turned to leave then, both of them, and their guild and all the stupid shit that went alone with it, "I would let you know."

"You don't have to," Mira insisted to her back. "Haven, you don't- Laxus, do something."

But he had.

Her aunt was gone from the front area when she got back out there and Haven was glad for that because she did _not_ want to deal with another crying Strauss, but someone else was still there. Of course.

"I suppose this is our parting. And after such an eventful day together. Hmm."

"I'm not a part of Fairy Tail anymore, Freed," she complained as he rose from the table. "I don't have to talk to you."

"Then do not talk to me as your guild elder. Or your Master's assistant. Speak to me as a fellow mage."

She didn't want to. Especially because she risked her mother or father coming after her. But…

As she stopped before him, the rune mage didn't look sad at all to see her go and she knew he wasn't. No way. Freed and she had something of a history, given she was his idol's oldest child, but it was strained. To say the least.

For a long few moments, he didn't speak. Just stared. As she tried to figure out what his ploy was, or if there even was one, Freed was talking.

"Do you know," he asked her with a deep stare, "anything about the sciences?"

"What?"

"Not something you study, I take it? A lot of magic takes its root in it, you understand. It's more than just incantations and magic circles. There's latent ability, yes, but if you truly wish to understand it, to know the ins and outs, you must-"

"I don't want a history lesson."

"Science."

"Freed-"

"There's a concept. A law. A statement," he told her then. "Everything that is, always was. Do you understand?"

"What?"

"All mass...objects...what we're made of it… You cannot create it. It always was. For as long as any of us have been here, it always was. And long after us, it still will be. Every one of us live and die ad nothing really leaves, nothing really comes or goes, it just is. Always. No matter where it is, in the entirety of Earthland, there is not a single thing that is where it's not meant to be. When it's finished, whatever it is, with it's purpose, it disperses into whatever it's meant to be next. Nothing is new and nothing is old. Everything just is. No matter where you go, where you don't, when it is over, you will have done what you were meant to, which is simply to exist. Do you understand?"

When she only stared, he sighed some and Haven wondered if Freed and Erza ever had conversations together where they talked in circles and half-thought out parables. She felt as if they could keep one another entertained for days.

"Instead, I suppose I can leave you with this." And he shrugged some then, the letter mage did, before saying, "When your father left the guild, it was in a far worse scenario than you are in currently. We never expected him to come back. When he did, things were...different. Than they were. But they needed to be. He needed to leave, to change, to grow. He couldn't do it here. And I know, whether the others do or not, you cannot here. If you must go, I am thankful that the circumstance are not more harrowing and wish you luck, Haven, whether you believe it or not. In everything you do."

It was her turn for a long stare and silence though, eventually, she nodded and turned. Softly, she told the man, "I'll see you around, I guess, Freed."

"I look forward to it."

Haven had nowhere to go though, from there. She couldn't go to Locke's, she couldn't go home, and it was too late to contend with the train. Or at least she didn't want to. Her aunts and uncles were out and Erza would be weird, if she went to Ravan, which meant she was mostly out of people.

But not places.

Ajax and the twins were the old shack in the woods main inhabitants in those days, so it didn't surprise Haven to find it filled with action figures and comic books. It did depress her a bit, to see how much it had changed and she felt weird, in there. Like she didn't belong any longer.

Mainly because she didn't.

It was chilly out, that evening, but she didn't start a fire. Didn't want one. Didn't even sit near the pit. Just in the grass out there, alone, and it felt like years ago then that she was trekking through a mysterious town. Even longer, that she was just happy about her birthday in the coming week.

How could all that change? Before the week was even fully up?

She heard him approach, but didn't rise and Ravan only stood there for a moment, in front of her, before slowly moving to take a seat, right across from her, in the damp grass, as the wind blew in the winter air.

"How did you know I'd be here?"

"Knew you wouldn't be home. Not at the guild. And if you were with Locke, I wasn't going to find you, so I guess I just tested my luck."

"I'm leaving tomorrow."

"For where?"

She only shrugged and he had his bandanna on, over his mouth, but she could always tell when he grinned regardless.

"Haven."

"I wish people would stop talking to me," she griped softly. "Or at least stop saying my name."

"Why did you tell your father that it was you?" he asked with a frown. "I was gonna be okay. I was going to tell the truth. You shouldn't have done that, Haven. You didn't have to."

"I wanted to."

"But-"

"I didn't know," she said with a shake of her head, "that he would do that. That he would just kick me out of the guild like that. I just didn't want him to pick on you. To treat you badly. You or Locke. I thought that if it was me, if he heard that I was the one who told you to do that, that he would… But it doesn't matter, anyways. None of it matters anymore. You guys are on your own with him. I'm out of here."

"Yeah," he whispered. "I've noticed."

"I'd do it again," she insisted to him and it felt weird to talk about something that only happened a few hours ago with such importance, but it was. She could feel it. This was a turning point for her. Her entire life was on her back then, replacing the fairy, and she would carry it all alone, herself. And love it. "So don't feel bad."

"You wanted to leave." He didn't ask. He knew. How could he miss it? She'd wanted gone for as long as he'd just wanted to belong. "What's to feel bad about?"

"I want you to leave Locke alone." When he didn't say anything, she insisted. "He's not… Ravan, he's gonna be really upset and I just don't want it to be any worse for him."

"You think you're some massive catch, huh? You break up with a guy and he just falls apart?"

"Leave," she insisted that time, "him alone."

The other teen could only nod.

"Did you get in trouble?" Haven asked after a few minutes of silence. "With Erza?"

"She just lectured me a bunch." Ravan looked away. "We sat though, after, for a long time. Real quiet. In the living room. And she just made me sit there with her. I think we made up though. Maybe."

"Yeah, well," she went on, "if there's anything you wanna say to me, one last time, you should do it now."

"Like?" he prompted, blinking at her.

"Uh, gee, how about, 'Oh, wow, Haven, thanks for actually being my friend even though I'm an asshole and no one likes me,'. Ever think of that?"

"I thought you could thank me for that, actually."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"I don't thank people for anything."

"I've noticed."

She rested her head on her knees, just breathing for a bit, before saying, "You should go too, Ravan. You know. Eventually." When he didn't reply, she was quick to add, "Not with me."

"No," he agreed. "Not with you."

"But somewhere. Fairy Tail isn't… It's not for people like us. Me and you."

"Me and you."

"You know I'm right," she insisted. "We're not like them. You more than me. Fairy Tail's a...spectacle and you have to appreciate it, in a certain kind of way, but when you don't fit, when you don't mesh, it's just hell."

He shut his eyes and looked to the ground as he whispered, "I forgot, you know. Your birthday."

"I know."

"If I hadn't gotten that job-"

"I'm glad you did." Tilting her head up, she watched as lightning shot across the dark sky, just for the two of them, and thunder boomed in the distance. No rain would come that night, but the late season thunder storm would not break until the next day. "I'm so glad you did."

They didn't say much else that night and, when the sunrise became imminent, Ravan walked with her through the woods and back to the road where his bike waited for them.

It felt stupid, really stupid, but the ride to the train station, getting to see the town one more time like that, whizzing by, leaving her as she left it, made it feel more real, somehow. More so, even, than losing her guild marking.

The sun was just coming up and it felt like she was finally waking up from the dream that she'd been trapped in, since she met Ravan there, all those days ago, with Locke in tow and Navi chasing after them. As she climbed off the teen's motorcycle though, it was alone and Ravan only gave her a half wave as he lifted the visor on his helmet and Haven returned it.

Then it was just her and her bag.

"You gonna leave without even saying bye, kid? That's pretty shitty."

"Pretty shitty, Papa. Pretty shitty."

"Nothing a real man would do. You sure my niece is the one that came back?"

It felt embarrassing, really, even though hardly anyone was around, when she heard them from behind. She'd just been sitting there, on a bench, awaiting her train, but there they were. All of them. Her aunts, her uncles and her mother, all together, to see her off.

She wanted to be mad at them. All of them. But as she stood, she just couldn't be. She wasn't angry about anything. Not with all her nerves kicking up. There was no room for other emotions.

"Haven." Her Aunt Lisanna was the first one to wrap an arm around her neck and she was the only one crying, then, but only held her tightly as she said, "We had to come say goodbye. I… I thought of a lot of nice things to say, last night, when I was trying to sleep, but just, um, what's that thing, I said, Bicks? It was really good, Haven, but… You know how to reach us, at least, with the lacrima? Do you have a lacrima? Write us. We'll send you one, when you get wherever you're going and you can call us whenever, me and your uncle. We want you to. And so does Ajax."

"Yeah, kid," the man insisted and as Lisanna let her go, he was reaching out then, to pat her on the shoulder. His tongue wagged and he didn't have his visor on, so she got the full affect of the face tattoo and all as his babies hovered around him ominously. His mohawk looked like he'd neglected to style it that morning, but she decided not to hold it against him. "Me and your aunt don't got nothin' to give ya or anything, we're a bit low on jewels at the moment, but when we get 'em, we'll send you whatever you need! Wherever you are! You call us, eh? Write us? We'll be there! And remember, no matter what anyone tells ya, I'm the best uncle ya ever had, yeah?"

"Yeah?" his babies insisted and Elfman was raging then as he shoved Bickslow to the side and yeah, no, they were embarrassing. The only people about were businessmen, really, but still. "Hey! Elfman! Don't touch Papa!"

He wasn't any longer. Rather, he was lifting his niece up as he gave her a bone crushing hug.

"Can't ya just stay?" he asked as she was dropped back to the ground, the man frowning at her with his question. Before she could answer though, he was shaking his head. "No, I guess ya can't. A real man know when it's time to go, you know, Haven, and that's what you've always been. Since you were a little girl. A man. You gotta go sow 'em, you know? Your oats?" When he was the one shoved, that time it was by his girlfriend, Elfman could only beamed at his niece. 'You know though, and I'm only offerin' cause I love ya so much, Haven, but if you think you need an extra hand out there-"

"I'll go with ya!" Bickslow bounced at the thought. "Haven. Kid. Let's go! Me and you. Lissy, sorry about all this, but could ya send Ajax? Me, him, Haven, and the babies here gotta-"

"You're," Elfman complained, "not who she'd want! She'd want her uncle!"

"I am her uncle!"

"Papa's an uncle," the babies agreed. "Haven."

For as embarrassing as they were, her two uncles, they didn't annoy her then. Just that once. Haven didn't laugh at their antics, but did smile just a bit. Evergreen, however, found no humor in them and finally did shove Elfman to the side.

"Well," she began as Haven's grin slowly fell. "I suppose I can't quite give you a heartfelt goodbye-"

"She ain't got one," Bickslow muttered softly and, well, that was one thing Elfman could agree upon.

"-but," Ever went on (though she did make a mental note of the remark), "I do have something for you. Haven. Here."

She frowned as the woman passed off a folded sheet of paper to her, but remained as silent as she had.

"It's a list," Evergreen explained. "Of associates and friends I've made across Fiore. And beyond, in some cases. If you tell them who you are, who I am, no matter what trouble you're in, most of them will help you. And I mean it, Haven, if you have any trouble, any at all, do not hesitate to contact someone on that list, if you're in their area."

They didn't hug, she and her aunt didn't, but that was fine as Mira had waited long enough and, reaching for her daughter, she wrapped both arms tightly around her neck and just held her to her, for a long while. The tears were there then and, as they fell against Haven's shoulder, Mirajane took a moment or so to collect herself.

"I won't," she whispered softly, in her daughter's ear, "ask you to stay. You're more than old enough to go. I just want you to know that… I love you. We love you. Everyone. We always have. Even if it didn't feel like it. If you want to go, then go. Do whatever it is that you want to do. But when you're ready to come back...if you ever want to come back… Just come back, Haven. Not to Fairy Tail. To Magnolia. To us. We'll always be here. For you. I promise, Haven."

She let Mira have it then, what she wouldn't before, and the woman cried for a good bit until the train pulled in and she had to released her, she had to let go and then it was time.

All the years of waiting, talking, obsessing over it and finally, it was true.

She was done.

But as she turned to grab her bag, much like Navi had not so long ago, someone else joined them, running. It wasn't her father. No. But as Freed chased her down, it wasn't on his own behalf.

"I have to board," Haven said as the others all looked on with curiosity and Bickslow even called over to inform the man that if anyone was going with her, it was her favorite uncle and, well, that was an argument between he and Elfman that would never die. Even if he was bawling by that point. "I can't-"

"I have not come to speak. Just give you this." When she looked skeptically at the white envelope, he assured her, "It is not from me. The letter. It is from your father. He stayed up late into the night, writing it. Stayed locked in his office the entire time. He instructed me to tell you that it is to be opened on the train."

She almost didn't take it. But…

Snatch it, she turned and waved to them, all of them, before rushing off before she changed her mind. Before they forced her to change her mind.

As the train pulled out of the station, she refused to glance out the window, at them, but rather only looked down at the envelope she had and the folded note her aunt left her. It would be a long ride, where she was headed, but curiosity would get to her before too long and, even though she didn't need it, she walked through the sleepy train to the tiny bathroom at the end of the car. It was cramped and the mirror was stained, but Haven only splashed some water on her face, to help wake her up, before she looked first at what her aunt had given her.

It was just as she said. A list of names with addresses written beside. But that wasn't what was of interest. Rather, it was the thick band of jewels that laid there. Far too much, really, for it all to just be from Evergreen. The sight alone was enough to make her sad, but she only stuck it into her wallet with what she'd taken with her, planning to count it all up later. Somewhere safer.

Next was her father's note and, ripping into it, Haven's eyes traced over the words in annoyance at first, but quickly, it became a bit more shaky. The train was smooth, but her breathing wasn't.

It read:

_Haven,_

_I don't know what to write here. I don't know what to say. I haven't to you in a long time and I'm sorry about that, but you haven't had anything to say to me either, so I guess we're even. I just thought that I should tell you why I'm doing this. I think you already know, but in case you don't, then I want you to know. I've written and rewritten it so many times now that, if this doesn't make much sense, then that's why._

_I don't hate you. Haven. I never have. I never will. I can't say it to most people and I can't say it to you, but I've always loved you. So much. I didn't want a kid, I never did, but when I got to know you, I was so glad to have you. You were so happy, when you were a baby. You used to make us hold your hand, no matter where we went, even if it was just down the road. When we'd nap, you'd lay on my chest and put your hand over my scarred eye and tell me about your day. _

_But something changed. If I did it, I'm sorry. If you did it, then I'm sorry for not helping you. I should have done more for you. There's no excuse, but the only explanation I have is that no one ever helped me through it and I didn't know how to help someone else. I'm not telling you that to make you feel bad for me, I know you won't, but it's the truth. I was drowning too, when I was your age, and everywhere I turned, it felt like no one could hear me. I spent years feeling like that. I think you have too. I know you have. I've seen it. You're so much like me, Haven. That's why we can't get along, I guess. We're just too alike. _

_You can't spend your entire life that way. So angry and upset. It's not good for you. And it won't get any better if you stay in the same place, going through the same things that made you feel that way in the first place. It's a dead end for you, here, at Fairy Tail. You have to leave. You have to go. _

_If you stayed, you'd only continue to do it. Drag your friends down. Locke doesn't need that and neither does Navi. I don't blame you for holding on to them so tightly, because I did the same thing, when I was your age, but you'll never forgive yourself if they miss their potential just to suffer with you. And I'm the Master, Haven; I have to take them into consideration as well. I watched Navi and Locke grow up just like their parents watched you. This won't be easy for anyone, but it's the best outcome. _

_I hope you find what you're looking for. I hope you find more. I hope the next time we see one another, I don't expect you to thank me or anything, and I won't hug you and tell you how much I missed you probably, but I want us both to be in better places. This place has been dragging me down, just the same as you, recently, and hopefully with some time apart, we'll learn to at least like one another again. _

_You were such a brat, Haven, when you were little. Do you remember when my father kidnapped you? And you acted like such a brat to me, when we got back? Over the lacrima and the necklace. Do you remember it? I've enclosed it here, for you. You look more and more like my mother every day and I want you to wear it, if you will, so you don't forget it. Forget us. I know that Fairy Tail isn't the place for you, but we're still a part of you. That shit doesn't leave you ever. _

_And you'll always be a Dreyar. Haven Dreyar. No matter how far you run, you can't escape that you're my daughter. _

_When you get tired of it, Haven, or if something happens out there that you can't handle, I'll be there. I'll know. I've taught you everything that I know and I hope that, one day, we can battle again. Really battle. _

_You can always come home. Haven. And I don't mean this guild. I mean my home. You'll never not have a place there, with me and your mother. _

_Remember all those dumb rules I was supposed to read to ya, huh? Before you left? And stay safe. Don't forget your past. Be humble. Remember all your friends back here, in Magnolia. _

_I'll love you forever, _

_Laxus_

It was so hard, to sob into her palm silently, in that cramped, smelly bathroom as, it was really happening then. She really broke. Not that she had any way to know, of course, that her father was much the same, the night before, as the storm raged outside, as he penned it.

When she got back to her seat, she felt alone as she settled into it and when she had to lean her head up against the window instead of a stiff shoulder and it wasn't the same, at all, but as her hand came up to stroke the lightning bolt shaped pendant that now rested there, she recognized that nothing would ever be the same again.

Haven Dreyar of Fairy Tail was dead.

Whatever she became now was in her hands.

"I can't believe I didn't get a chance to say goodbye!"

That's what was going on a few hours later as she snoozed on the train, back at the guildhall, where Kai was dismayed to discover the news that the teen was long gone.

"Oh, Kai," Marin sighed in pity as she patted at his shoulder. "It'll be okay. If it makes you feel better, I don't think that Haven even really liked you that much."

It didn't.

Locke had no one to sit with anymore, than the two of them, and he watched the scene was disinterest, randomly adjusting the pendant that still set wrapped around his wrist. He'd only just got in, hoping to catch Haven as she met with her father, but Mirajane was there and seemed surprised he didn't know.

"Did Haven not tell you?" she asked with a frown as Marin, who was nearby, only looked away, ashamed. "I'm sorry, Locke. Haven left this morning."

It felt like a punch in the gut and he couldn't do anything other than sit there, at a table, and just wait. For her. But she wouldn't come. He knew it, but it was hard to come to terms with.

When Kai arrived that day, having not been on duty that morning, he was much the same as the older teen, but far more open about the reaction it gave him. As he sobbed, Locke offered up no empathy while Marin just tried her darnedest to bring his hopes up.

It was difficult.

When Ravan arrived, he started over there, to reprimand his brother and his tears, but Locke and his eyes met and, when Redfox didn't look away, Ravan knew he had to. The other teen looked ready to murder him and, well, there'd been enough horrible things to befall the guild that day. No need to add a dead slayer kid to it.

Kai's tears were just about all dried up when Ajax arrived for the day, but the boy and the twins still came over. As the younger boys told Marin how sorry they were, that her sister was kicked outta the guild, Ajax only stared at Kai as he wiped at his eyes.

"Don't cry," he finally told the older boy, reaching over to pat at his head. "Haven's not dead. She's just getting stronger. And we gotta get stronger too! I am, at least. And when she gets back, won't she feel like she'll have to stay? If she sees how much we've all grown while she's away? She'll never leave us again, if we all just get strong enough."

No one else at the table felt the same, but Ajax had faith and, well, it didn't matter much to him what the others thought. No one knew his cousin Haven as well as him. How could they?

"We're pretty close," he reminded the others and that was enough for Locke. Shoving up and off, he left the hall for the day.

Ravan easily filled his place.

"Did you know? Ravan? That Haven was leaving?" Kai was just sniffling then. "She didn't tell me goodbye."

"Maybe it's 'cause she didn't want to have to hear you go through your whole big stupid reveal thing that everyone already fucking knows about."

"Hey!"

"Did you tell Erza?" Marin asked, excited then, for the first time since her sister left. It was weird, but she just wasn't as upset as the others. Haven being gone wasn't, like, a blight being lifted or anything, but the further her sister's train drove her, the lighter Marin felt. "What did she say?"

He groaned again, Kai did, rubbing harder at his eyes. "That she already knew! And so did your mom and Ravan and…and… No one even made a big deal about it!"

"Should we have?" Ravan asked from behind his bandanna and they were talking vaguely then, so the younger boys took off to go whine at Kinana about how they hadn't been fed yet and Ajax's Uncle Laxus wouldn't like to hear that one bit. "I mean, what did you want, Kai? For us to get upset? To be excited? Throw you a party? What?"

"I just wanted," he sighed slightly as he took to resting his head on the table, "someone to care."

"I care," Marin offered and he smiled appreciatively, but she hardly counted.

"Haven would have cared," Ravan offered him in a mocking tone, but that just set Kai off into another round of tears over how the girl probably would have, he bet, and his brother just groaned while Marin glared.

There was one thing Haven cared about though as, when she stepped off the second train she'd taken that night, it was to walk back into the city she'd only left not long ago. It was late and she was afraid it wouldn't be possible, but when she showed up at the little doctor's office, he was just closing up and allowed her back.

"Your friend's not well, still, but her parents are back there with her," he sighed as he headed out the door. "Take all the time you need."

They all seemed surprised to see her and Happy even annoyed by her presence, but Lucy smiled and told the girls they would give them a minute.

"So you can talk," the celestial mage remarked. "About everything."

Navi had sat up, at Haven's entrance, but as the girls watched one another, the older could tell that something was up.

"If," Navi began and she hardly ever led their conversations, "you came to apologize-"

"Apologize?" Haven frowned. "For what? Why would I-"

"You left me."

"Are you still on about that stupid cliff-"

"You went back in, Haven. I know. I've heard." Navi was clearly weak and shes didn't look well, but the attitude she was giving off then was far from wounded by her condition. "To the temple. Alone. To get the treasure."

Well, with Locke, but both girls knew he hardly counted for anything.

"It wasn't like-"

"I wouldn't have done that to you. I would have never left you there, dying, and just hoped you turned out okay. But you did that to me. You've always done that. To all of us. You-"

"I'm not going to apologize," Haven cut her off and oh, man, she was really wishing she hadn't come then, "about finishing a job, Navi. And I wouldn't expect you to either."

"I guess we're just different people then, huh, Haven?"

She wanted to leave. To storm out. But she knew that there was a good chance she'd never get to speak to Navi again. She had no idea if she'd ever come back to Magnolia (she really didn't want to) and if she did, if the girl would even be around. Navi was growing too. And Haven had a feeling Fairy Tail was soon fleeting from her life as well.

Taking in a breath, she managed to get out, "I came because my father...Laxus… He kicked me out of the guild. Over it. The job."

Navi had been glaring off, but looked over to where Haven stood, still by the door to the room. When she finally found words, they were originally going to be something of condolence. Sorrow. Questions. But Navi was just...so...mad at Haven then, that she couldn't bring herself to be that then. Sympathetic. To the girl who'd spent her entire life being the opposite towards her.

"If you think I'm going to feel sorry for you-"

"I don't care what you feel, Navi."

"Then why did you come? Huh? If you're not sorry, if you're not checking on me, if you're not here to get me to do either of those things for you-"

"I just thought you should hear it from me. That's all." Haven released it then, a long, strong breathe. "Navi. I'm not in Fairy Tail anymore. I don't know when I'll be back around so I guess… I guess this is goodbye."

"I guess it is."

She thought of things though, after Haven left, that she should have said. What she should have done. Because that wasn't her. That was the anger and the pain and she didn't hate Haven. They were different people, yes, of course, but they'd always been, and...and…

And she was gone.

So it didn't matter.

Haven was just in the hall though where Natsu and Lucy were, Happy in the latter's arms, but they were staring at her with wide eyes. Haven really wasn't feeling a conversation about how much of a bitch she was to their daughter though, so she almost shoved right passed them, but Natsu spoke before she could.

"Did we just hear you say," he questioned instead as she only took note of his scarf back where it belonged, "that your dad kicked you out of the guild? Is this about Navi? He shouldn't have done that! We didn't want that. Did we, Luce? Hap? I'll talk to him. He can't just be kicking people out of guilds."

Mainly because, if he'd go after his own daughter, the slayer had no doubt the man would come for him as well.

"Natsu," Lucy warned, but Haven just shook her head.

"He's not making me leave," Haven told them simply and it felt weird to her, leaving the Dragneel's last, so far from home. "He's letting me."

As she went to catch another train for yet another long, lazy ride, things back in Magnolia were far from it. The storm the night before had eased some of the tension, at least, in the hall, and it was back to regular schedule. Mirajane didn't work that night, but her sister and daughter did, and things felt normal for most everyone.

Everyone other than Ravan.

He kept waiting around the hall, the whole day, for the Master to come out of his office. But he wouldn't. And he knew what he had to do, but it was so hard because he wasn't used to that. Nerves. But he had to do it, he knew.

He had to go speak with him.

Eventually, he found himself walking to the back and it was so weird to think about he was doing the same thing, not long ago, and now everything was different. All because of it. All because of him.

"What?" came the growl from the other side of the door as Ravan knocked.

"It… It's Ravan, Master. Can I come in?"

He growled again, the slayer did, but something of the affirmative was attached to that and, pulling his bandanna off his face, he entered as respectfully as he could. The man was there, behind his desk, and his gaze was just as dark as it had been the day before.

"What the fuck," Laxus questioned, "do you want?"

"I… Master, I had to tell you that… Haven didn't tell me to take that job and I don't know why she told you that she did, but-"

He snorted. Laxus did. Loudly.

"Go away, Ravan."

"It's the truth. I-"

"You think I fucking don't know that? Huh? Fucking moron."

"What?"

"Haven might not have taken the job, Ravan," he remarked simply, shaking his head at him, "but she went on it. She rallied everyone together to go with her. Didn't she? And I didn't kick my fucking daughter out of my damn guild over a fucking job anyways."

"Then why-"

"You wouldn't understand."

"She was my only friend." That fell out of his mouth before he could stop it, but he didn't regret it. Not even admitting it in front of his master. Because it was the truth. "And now you sent her away."

"Good."

"Good?"

"Great, even." Laxus stood then and he was so much bigger than him. Even though he was an old man, really, in the eyes of the teen, he was one of the most imposing figures he knew. "You weren't going to get far with her as your only friend. Better alone than with Haven. Hey, tell that to Locke, will ya, when he decides to come in here and grovel at my feet about her too? I don't run this fucking place to make sure my daughter ends up with the most eligible bachelor. It's a damn guild! And if I ever fucking see you, Ravan, hanging around the back again, with Marin, I'll fuck you up. You hear me? Now get out of here. Piece of shit. And don't speak to me again, eh? If I want somethin' out of ya, I'll beat it."

He tried hard to feel bad about it, Laxus did, as the teen ran off, but he couldn't. He just couldn't. Not about anything. He was empty. And would be for a long while.

"Oi, boss, ya havin' office hours or should I come back later? And what'd ya do to the kid? You have him near in tears!"

"What," he growled as the seith poked his head through the door, "do you want, Bickslow?"

"Just to touch base. Talk to ya a bit. I got somethin' to ask you. All that stuff yesterday, it happened so fast that I-"

"What."

It wasn't a question. It was a command.

The seith was quick to stumble into the room.

As Laxus fell back into his chair, Bickslow only came to stand before him, waiting for the man to gesture to him before he began.

"It's just...boss, I get it, you know. Haven was… She's my niece and I love her, but-"

"This is not up for discussion. If you think you're gonna make me-"

"No. I don't. But that…" He let out a long sigh then. "How are we gonna keep her safe, boss? From… from you know. From him. If we don't know where she's at? I just worry, is all. About her. And about-"

"You still keepin' tabs on him?"

"Well, yeah, but the kid, we don't know where she'll-"

"That's all we need."

"But boss-"

"I don't have to know where Haven is, Bickslow," Laxus told him with a frown. "Just where Ivan is. At all times."

"But what if they were in the same place and we didn't know? Then what?"

But Laxus wouldn't answer and he kicked him out then, reminding him of their vow of silence as he sent him.

Then it was just the slayer, alone, and he wished, once more, that he could wear his headphones all day. Blast everyone's words out. Even his own thoughts. Never have to hear a damn thing.

"Dad?" There was a knock at the door again, but this time, it opened before he could speak. "M-Mom is out, but Aunt Lisanna said I should just bring you your dinner, in here, like she would and-"

"Thank you, Marin," he sighed as the girl came over, plate in hand. "Just set it down."

As she did so, along with a mug of ale, his eyes fell over her slowly, watching.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly as she moved to press a kiss against his cheek gently. "With everything? Mar?"

"Yeah," she said clearly and easily and even smiled, just a bit, at her father. He couldn't return it. "And I know that wherever she is, so is Haven. Don't you think?"

He swallowed, but it wasn't enough. He was too choked up to answer.

But yeah.

He really did.

* * *

**Don't mind me, just writing an obscenely long chapter. I knew it would be lengthy, but I was shooting for about 10, 000, but overshot and nearly doubled it. Sorry about that. A (much shorter) epilogue and then this one is done, guys. **


	11. Epilogue

There was something about it. The guild hall. Not necessarily the structure itself, as it had been rebuilt and replaced many times over the years, but rather the environment that the enigma of Fairy Tail provided within. Though it loved it's members dearly, it recognized the need for grown and change. Absence of one who'd previously been a staple hardly affected the entity for long and, within a day, Haven's absence was merely missed by those closest to her and, in the coming weeks, hardly even them, save a select few.

Ravan was one of the few. Not so outwardly was this the case, but no longer did he have a reason to linger about, drinking and waiting to see if she'd show. Haven. She wouldn't. He knew this and accepted this, and filled the hole with jobs. Though the Master originally had punishments for both him and Locke decided upon, this was abandoned as Laxus spent most of his days drinking in his office and not interacting much with others.

This gave Ravan his chance to redeem himself in the eyes of Erza the only way he knew how; by taking immense amount of jobs with little to no breaks in between. And when he did have a break, he wasn't lounging around the house or messing around with his bike. No. He didn't bother her to train either. He cleaned up around the house (which, really, meant cleaning up after Kai, but whatever). Not that he was ever around for long.

If he just took enough jobs, accomplished enough, did enough, then he could get back into favor with the woman. He knew he could. He had to.

Plus...it helped keep his mind off the obvious hole that had been left. HE and Haven far from spent every day together, but to go more than a week without speaking wasn't like them. So as those weeks drug on and she never contacted him at all, well, he wasn't surprised. That sounded exactly like Haven, but still.

He'd never tell her he missed her, but he did. A lot. It was lonely, without Haven. Ravan always thought that he was built for that, loneliness. That his entire life was made up around it. But when you have at least one other person there, one other friend, then it was hard to get too low. Feel too down. Not when you had someone there to pump you back up.

He still had Kai and Erza, fine, but they were different. Marin was different. Because Haven had been different. For him. Never before had he had a friend. Not in that way. When he was a boy, back on the coast, all the boys kind of hung out, yeah, and the girls and it was a tight knit group, but that was different. That was kid stuff. Haven was his real friend.

And then she decided to just ditch out on him.

Maybe he should be angry. Or sad. Or upset. With her. At her. Whatever. But he just wasn't. Her decisions checked out with him. In the reverse, if he up and left, he was sure Haven would understand too.

It was true, what they always said. They got one another.

But to lose the person that got you, the only person you'd ever met that got you, was rough. Especially for someone as against social interactions as Ravan. He was so convinced, as a kid, that no one would ever accept him or want him that he sealed himself off until he hardly had the ability to carry a conversation that wasn't about the current job he was on. Because everything he said sounded wrong and weird and he didn't like to do much, but sit around in silence or work on his bike in silence or drink in silence.

Maybe it was a symptom of always being alone, but he liked it. Silence. A lot. Haven seemed to get that. She was always willing to give it to him. Now that she was gone though, he found that being forced into it was a lot different than being gifted.

Still, if he just worked, worked hard enough to retrieve Erza's grace then...then…

"Ravan, what have you done to your arm?"

"I," he grumbled when the swords woman found him bandaging it one day, in the bathroom, "haven't done anything to it. I just got a kinda cut up on a job and-"

"It's infected."

"That's why I'm pour solution on it."

"Ravan, have you had someone at the hall look at this? Why did you not mention it to me? You told me your job that you just returned from when fine."

"It did."

"Then-"

"This," he admitted in defeat as she came further into the bathroom then, "was from two jobs ago. I… I didn't wanna pass a new flier up, in the hall, that I saw and I figured I could just take care of the wound on my own. Then when I got back, yeah, it wasn't healing too well, but I just wanted to get this one more job and then, now, well- Hey, Erza!"

She poked then, at the pus filled wound on his bicep. Frowning at the teen as he only winced and his vision blurred, she said simply, "You are being reckless."

A huge understatement.

Still, he reminded himself, it was his fault for not checking if she was around and not closing the bathroom door before trying to change his gauze. If not his fault all together for not having someone else take a look at the wound when it refused to heal.

Erza marched him to the kithcen where she tended to it then, the wound and the wrapping of it and as she tucked the gauze, she remarked, "You are far too old for me to be doing this for you."

"It's not like I asked."

"Why have you been so intent on snatching up jobs? Hmm? You miss your friend? She will not be pleased to have to come back to Magnolia when you die of sepsis."

He had a bad feeling she wouldn't come back anyways.

"It has nothing to do with Haven."

"Then what?"

But he couldn't answer. And she didn't press. Still, when he mentioned wanting to head out the next day, for a new job, Erza denied him the opportunity.

"If you will not take care of your wounds," she said simply, "then I guess you must come with me. So I can keep an eye on it."

"What do you mean?"

"There is an S-Class job that I've had my eye on-"

"Erza…" He shook his head some, down at the floor, as he sat in his chair at the kitchen table. "I don't think… The Master-"

"Has he put you on a restriction?"

"No, but-"

"It is never too soon to get back onto a horse. And besides, this is not a reward." Her eyes were dark, but she held a hand out to him, as if beckoning him to his feet. "And it is also not an option.'

As they headed down to the hall together, he felt as if, maybe, she'd taken notice of his commitment to making things right. Maybe. Or she really thought that he was just horrible at bandages. Which, yeah, he was. Cleaning wounds. All that. It wasn't his thing.

"You must take care of yourself, Ravan," she told him on the train ride out as he tried not to think about how he the last ride out on an S-Class job had gone. When he glanced at Erza, he saw her gaze wasn't so heavy and she almost looked...pleasant. "What would I do without you?"

But as they didn't talk anymore on the past, it was something that Navi had to do in the days following Haven's departure from the guild. Her father and mother had let her heal up, back in Incidio, but after arriving home, they had a meeting of sorts.

"Sorry, Hap, you're not allowed," Natsu said with a shake of his head as he sent the Exceed alone to walk the twins down to the guild that morning. "Closed meeting."

"This is discrimination," the feline accused, but, well, since they'd just gotten back, there was no food in the place and he was more than ready for breakfast.

They'd only just gotten in the night before, the four of them had, and after getting the twins from Lisanna, they had takeout all together as the twins mostly bombarded their sister with questions and concerns. Lucy eventually sent them, and Navi, off to bed. This presented Happy with the option of going to fall into bed with one of the twins, which would mean sneaking up late, snickering in the darkness and talking about all they, personally, ahd done since the three had been apart. Or be with Navi, who he'd technically be with for awhile then.

He chose the girl though and she made no complaint as they snuggled into her bed together.

"Navi?" he whispered in the darkness as she only stroked at his ears.

"Yeah? Happy?"

They hadn't been alone, the two of them hadn't, because Natsu or Lucy was always around and that was fine, that was okay, but he missed it. When they weren't. For so long.

"You won't do that again, will you?" he asked. "Run off like that? And not tell anyone? I think it's really cool that you tried, anyways, to do an S-Class job, but if you'd just told me-"

"I won't. Again. I'll always tell you before I leave."

"Do you promise?"

"Yeah, Happy." She nuzzled her head against his furry one, getting a soft sigh from the Exceed. "I promise."

But things wouldn't be as easy, she knew, between she and her parents. How could it? She'd stolen from her father and made them both come after her. If they hadn't, if her mother wasn't there for her, to rescue her…

"I'm sorry," Navi apologized, softly, as she sat on the couch beside her mother. The woman had been overly attentive towards her oldest since they'd been reunited, but Lucy was in serious mode them. Still, she only sat beside her, turned a bit, so she could stare Navi in the eyes, as she held one of her hands in her own. "I didn't… I wanted to come home. As soon as we'd left. I knew that we weren't supposed to go on that job, but-"

"No one cares that you went on that job, Nav," Natsu interrupted and even tossed a hand up at the suggestion. He wasn't sitting. He couldn't. He was bouncing around, before them, but stopped then, in front of her daughter, so he could frown at her. "That's just part of life. Steal a few jobs here, a few more there. How else are you gonna move up in the guild?"

"Uh," his wife interrupted with a frown, "yeah, Natsu, we do care. And I think Haven getting kicked out over the whole thing kind of tells you what it'll get you. Not to mention, Navi, if you're not ready for something, there's a reason. And you weren't ready for you. So no. I don't ever want to hear about you doing that again."

Natsu made a face though, softly, Navi agreed as she stared down at her lap.

"Luce, who cares about all that?" the woman's husband questioned.

"About our daughter almost dying? I do. And you do too, so-"

Yeah, but that was ages ago then, ti felt like. And Navi was fine! A little weak and all, but she'd bounce back in no time!

No.

There was something else that had been bugging him much more and he'd gotten tired of waiting around for Navi to just come out and explain it to him.

Cutting his wife off, the Salamander took a bit more serious tone as he asked, "Why did you steal my scarf, Navi?"

She blinked some in surprise as she'd thought that they'd kind of, you know, just called a wash on that. As she raised her eyes to stare into her father's though, she could tell this wasn't the case.

"I just… I..."

"Take your time," her mother offered and her eyes fell once more, Navi's did, as she blinked back the glistening that was beginning to form.

"You said," she whispered, finally, to her father, "that all I'm only good at cleaning up after you guys and that I don't go out on jobs anyways and you always make me do that, take care of you, and I'm tired of it."

"N-Natsu, you said that?"

"What?" Now, he'd be the first to admit that he didn't keep too much of a track of his tongue, but he was certain those words never left it. "No! Navi, I never said-"

"You might as well have!"

"Navi-"

"I don't want to do it anymore. I hate it. I hate all of it. Lucky and Iggy aren't mine."

"Who said they were?" Lucy asked softly, but her daughter was too busy rubbing at her tears then to answer. So she prompted again. "Navi? Who said-"

"You're always asking me to watch them or to take care of them or to stay home to be with them and it's not fair. It's-"

"You could always," Natsu argued back because he was more than a bit peeved given the trial he was being put on. He thought she was gonna tell him about how much she missed him or something. That that was why she took his scarf. Not eviscerate him. Accuse him. "Just say no. Navi. You just said ask. You said-"

"Natsu, let her speak."

"No! It's not-"

"How can I say no," she interrupted her parents with a glare over at her father, "when you're always coming back from a job? And are tired? Or stayed out all night training and I never train, I never go out on jobs, so that's what I have to do, isn't it? Watch them?"

"No." That time, her mother spoke to her. She was the only one that still sounded at least somewhat level headed. "Navi. You don't. And you shouldn't feel like you have to. Yes, we like for you to help out, but if it's bothering you that much-"

"Why'd you steal from me? Huh?" Natsu had never been upset with Navi before. Ever. Never yelled at her. Never had to. Lucy handled any and all punishments. If the kids did something that wasn't right and he was the only parent around, he mostly just sighed some and acted disappointed and that got the message across. But she was really firing him up, his daughter was, throwing all those accusations his way. "When Lucy's the one-"

"Me? She's talking about the both of us."

"I'm talking about him. You. Dad," Navi clarified for the pair of them and it was silent again as Natsu only glared right back, finally. It was enough to make Navi look back down at her lap as, like always, her anger was fleeting at an alarming rate, leaving her weepy once more. To her lap, she said, "You're the one that always does it. Comes home and then just lays around the house and let's Happy and the boys do whatever they want and then you beg me to fix it for you. Or to let you go down to the hall. Or tell me that I don't even take jobs, so I might as well-"

"That's what you're mad about?" Finally, he caught a bit of what, maybe, at one point, he could have said. That did stick out to him. "That I told you that? You don't go out on jobs anymore, Navi, is all I meant. Or you didn't before you went and did all this. Why's that a big deal to say?"

But she didn't want to talk to him anymore. As she blinked back her tears, Lucy only took in a deep breath as she turned her eyes back on the slayer.

"Sometimes you don't think, Natsu," his wife told him simply. "When you talk."

"I never think when I talk."

"Yeah, broadcast that."

"I'm serious." And he took a step forwards then, but his eyes weren't on his wife. Just his daughter, urging her to raise hers once more. To look at him. "Navi, I'm sorry if I made you feel-"

"There's no if." She didn't raise her eyes, but did speak to him, at least. "Only what happened."

Letting out a short breath (semantics were always lost on him), the man said, "Fine. I'm sorry. There. Are we okay now? I don't like it, you know? When you're upset with me? Just stop being mad at me and I'll do whatever it is that you want so it's not that way anymore."

But it was more than that. It had been for awhile. When she still didn't look up, her father came forward completely then, so that he could pat at her head.

"Hey," he ordered then, voice just commanding enough that, finally, her eyes lifted and they were staring at one another. "I get it, okay? I mean, I guess I didn't have that. The whole rebel against your parents thing. But it sounds like something I'dda been all over! So I get it, Navi. I really do. And...if it bothers you, to watch your brothers so much, then just don't. If you can't say no when I ask, then I won't ask. Alright?"

When she nodded, he only ruffled her hair then and grinned as his other hand came to jerk a thumb up at his chest.

Flashing his teeth, he assured her, "There's nothin' more important than makin' sure you're okay, Nav. You know that. I never even got to do any real battlin' on that damn job thy picked. Ravan and Haven. Way to pick a super lame S-Class job for the first one you steal."

"And the last," Lucy spoke up then as Navi nodded once more, eyes falling to her laps again. She blinked back the tears that time, before they could fall, and as she felt her father's hand lift from her head, she just hoped that she could always feel as light as she did in that moment.

The coming weeks felt a lot less light for Locke, however, as he spent them away from the guild. He gave it a day, in Magnolia, waiting for Haven to realize the mistake she'd made. To come back. Then he took off for where they were supposed to hang out for a week, when she turned seventeen, but he just felt foolish as he waited there because, yeah, she was long gone. He just thought that...that maybe…

Maybe she'd at least meet with him. One last time. To say goodbye. Really say goodbye.

As he headed back home though, tail tucked between his legs, the anger finally started to take over the sadness. Haven had told him that she would wait. That she would see him again. She promised. She assured him.

And then she left him.

Him.

Not Navi. Not Ravan. No. It was him that she said she'd see again, that she would make the effort for, who was just at his fucking house the whole time. She could have come and got him. Yeah, he might have tried to talk her out of it or gotten upset or...or…

If he left, he'd have seen her.

If she clearly didn't want him to go, he wouldn't have.

So why didn't Haven do the same for him?

He took a job, when he returned, a far off one. It was simple though and after knocking it out of the park, he spent the journey back using the jewels he'd earned to search all over. Everywhere. For her. Or at least the places he thought she might be. It took a bit longer than expected, really, and he hadn't quite thought about the worry this might bring to his family considering the job he'd completed sent word back of the completion, but then, Locke never returned.

Gajeel grumbled something about him mourning or other teenage angsty shit over his dumb girlfriend and Levy agreed, but then the days turned into weeks and, well, when he did arrive back into town, his father had more than a few words for him.

"You disappear all the time," he complained and Pantherlily, who of course was about, had to concede him that point.

The trio were out in their typical training spot, deep in the woods surrounding Magnolia. His father had ordered him to go out there with him the second he rolled into the city before the teen even had a chance to shower or eat or anything. But...his father still had that hold over him. He probably always would.

"I," Gajeel grumbled back at him as they sat there, in the grass of the clearing, "am a man! I can do whatever I want!"

"So am I!"

"I'd love to treat ya like one, Locke, but every fucking time I turn around, you're acting like a fucking kid. What were you even doin', huh? Don't answer." He snorted, Gajeel did, just from the thought. "Chasin' after that girl, weren't ya?"

"Haven's not just some girl. She's-"

"Yeah," his father agreed. "She's not. She's some girl who fuckin' left ya. And there you are. Chasing after her again. Just like always. Don't you ever get tired of it? Locke? Followin' her around? 'cause I sure am tired of watchin' ya do it."

"It's not like that."

"But it is. Damn it, Locke, if someone doesn't want you, if they leave you, then take a hint. Take a fucking hint. The girl isn't into you. She's not into any of us, apparently. If Fairy Tail ain't good enough for her, if _you're_ not good enough for her, then forget her." He reached over then, his father did, to shove his head and as Locke only glared, Gajeel jumped back to his feet. "Iain't sayin' it don't suck. Not sayin' it don't hurt. It does. I know it does. But if someone leaves you, then you poppin' back into their life isn't going to make them want you anymore. She left. That's what she did. Now you gotta focus on what you're gonna do. Waste it on her if you want, fine, I won't care about it anymore. Or do the smart thing, the right thing, and move on. I've told ya for years this would happen. Haven didn't wanna be here. Ya drag her back and then what? She still won't and you start all over again. Let it be, Locke. You gotta just let it go."

He was seething, Locke was, as his father stalked off, back out of the clearing and out of the woods all together. Locke couldn't jump up though. Go. Run. After him. Tell him all the things he was thinking. They were lengthy and not too cohesive, but definitely things he thought Gajeel should fucking know before he went around judging his relationship.

For one, yeah, Haven left him, and yeah, she probably wouldn't appreciate him finding her, but that was just how she was. She hated everything that someone did for her. Whether it was in malice or kindness, she couldn't stand any attempt to help her. Aid her. He felt like things had changed in the past year, as they grew closer, but apparently not.

And that was okay too! So yeah, maybe she'd kind of broken up with him, _maybe_, but she hadn't said it. She didn't say it. Sow as it true if neither of them said anything about it? Huh? Huh? Did Gajeel think about that? No. Of course not. Because he'd always had a vendetta against her. Haven. He never liked her. And that was his problem. Because Locke did like her. He loved her. A lot. He didn't know what he was going to do when he finally had to accept it. When he finally had to admit it.

That…

That…

"She's not gonna come back."

Pantherlily was still there with him, sitting nearby, and only nodded some at the teen's words. It was true, after all.

Still, he wasn't nearly as harsh as Gajeel when it came to these things. He didn't absolutely _hate_ Haven or anything. He also wasn't the biggest fan of the next step that she and Locke had taken, but he was far more into the idea o letting him make his own mistakes. It was the only way a person could grow.

"When you think about it, Locke, maybe it does mean something," Lily offered up to him softly. This was hardly the first heartbreak he'd walked him through (though perhaps the biggest; for the time.) "Maybe it was just too hard. To tell you that she wasn't going to stay. You mean much more to her, after all, than the others. As she does to you."

He only shook his head though, glaring down at the pendant that rested against the veins on his wrist.

"I'dda done it," he told the Exceed. "For her."

And he would have.

Haven was the only link, really, in the slayer kids (plus Ravan), so Locke found himself pretty alone in the coming weeks. More than he had been before, definitely, perhaps more than any other point of his life. He was just too down on himself to do much socializing otherwise.

There were others. In the guild. Close in age. It wasn't like he was disliked. No, only Haven. When she wasn't around, he'd always been able to make friends. Once you conquered it with Haven, after all, friendship with others was simple.

But he didn't want that. Not yet. He wanted to sulk. He wanted to be alone. He wanted to feel all the horrible things that went along with losing such a huge chunk of yourself. The only other option was forgetting and that felt like it would only hurt so much worse.

Laxus was finding this to be the case as he tried very hard to just act like everything was fine. And it was, really, wasn't it? A smite on his guild was gone and now they could all move on accordingly. Haven's negativity and inability to behave in a group setting made busy period up at the hall, where she'd usually bully those under her and attempt to do the same to those over were finished with. She wasn't around to drink and goof off. Take jobs out of her league. Steal fucking S-Class jobs.

She was better off, even, he tried to convince himself. Safer. On the streets. It would wisen her up. Toughen her up. And was she really on the streets? No, he insisted to himself. No way. She had to be in a guild by now. Another guild. Just one he didn't know about, was all. That's why he hadn't heard about it. Yeah. And she'd get in contact with her mother or aunt or uncle soon enough and then they'd know where she was and it would be okay.

It would all be okay.

"Haven still hasn't even written, Laxus."

"Haven," Laxus responded to his wife that evening as she came to drop his food before him, "is no longer in Fairy Tail. And it's business hours. So I can't talk right now-"

"Laxus-"

"She'll write or contact us when she wants, Mirajane. What do you want me to do? She's grown. I can't make her call you. I can't make her do anything! That's why she's gone."

They'd only had this conversation _every_ _single_ _day_ since the girl left.

He was more than a bit tired of it.

Mainly because he was worried too…

But Mira only glared at him that day and that was all his wife had for him, in those following days, weeks, months.

"If anything happens to her," the woman warned, just as she always would, "it's your fault, Laxus."

"Something had to be done, Mira, and you know it."

Yes. She did. And maybe that was even the right call. But he was just better at admitting it to himself than she.

Their other daughter had no problems admitting the freedoms that her sister's absence gave her, however. Outside of their tearful goodbye, she'd shed no more for her sister and instead focused on getting Kai back to normal. He was rather down about the whole thing. Haven leaving felt like it was just a crutch, however, for what was really bugging him.

"So," Erza began one day as the three sat around the hall, eating breakfast, "what are the two of you going to be doing for the day? I am going on a nature hike."

"A nature hike?" Marin whispered with a bit of a frown. "Like to actually view the nature or-"

"Yes. And do not sound so surprised. I am a great appreciator of such things. Nature in all it's beauty."

"You can just tell us, Erza," Kai muttered around his eggs, "that you're going to try and meet up with Jellal."

"I… On a nature hike, perhaps, our paths will cross just long enough for… You are not going to ask to come? Are you?"

"No," the boy sighed and Marin frowned in concern as Erza just mimicked him, though her breath was in relief.

"I do though," the woman assured the children before she departed, "enjoy nature and all of it's wonder."

After she was gone, Marin still had a few more hours to put in after she ate and Kai sat around to wait for her. Without Haven there, neither his brother nor Locke ever seemed to be about and Ajax was kicking it into overdrive (for a bit anyways) as he threw everything into his training. Much like Haven and Marin at a young age, he had the guilds top mages at his disposal. From his father's friends to his mother's siblings, he had many options to choose from and each day was a new adventure, off with a new one.

Luckily, that day, he'd chosen to spend it training (bugging) Freed. Which meant when Marin got off, she was able to find her Aunt Evergreen and Uncle Elf at home.

"Do you kids not have plans?" Evergreen asked with a shrug as she let them in. "You're in time for tea, anyways."

"Tea." Elfman, who was no longer even allowed in the same room as the teapot and cups, was more than a bit hateful towards the concept. "Who needs tea? Not men! Come on, Kai."

It was over tea though that Marin asked her aunt if she and her uncle had any plans that night.

"Sort of," Ever replied with a roll of her eyes. "Your uncle wants to go to the park and-"

"It's gonna be romantic! Out there, as the first snow tumbles down for the year!"

"What did I tell you about coming in here when the tea set is out? Get, Elfman!"

So. Romantic.

She huffed some though, after shooing her boyfriend back to playing cards with Kai in the living room.

"You two could come though, I guess," the woman offered. "Save me the boredom of spending it all with Elfman."

Which would make it a lot less romantic, taking their niece and her friend along, but Elfman was really hurting now that Haven was gone. Sure, he and the girl weren't exceedingly close (she wasn't with anyone, really, but seemed, for obvious reasons, to prefer Lisanna over Evergreen as far as aunts went), but still. Any time Marin wanted of his was hers! It always had been, really, but now he meant it twice as much!

Still, it wasn't until they left that night, around the time Elfman had been told that the snow would start blowing in, that Kai realized what it implied. What was happening. He and Marin were going out with her aunt and uncle on a date, really, kind of, and that wasn't going to help convince anyone that they weren't…

It didn't really matter though, he reminded himself with a sigh as he let himself be dragged along by Marin that night. Because he really just didn't care. If she thought that about him. It had been the idea of Marin thinking it that messed him up. Now though, he knew that apparently every single person just knew this close to the vest thing that he was still trying to figure out, honestly, and it was just so aggravating and unfair and...and…

It was his! Him. His sexuality. He was the one that got to decide it and consider it and worry about it. Not the others. They didn't get to just look at him or whatever it is that they did to decide what he was. No. It went deeper than that. Surface stuff. A lot deeper.

He was deeper. Than they all gave him credit for. Shitty things had happened in his life too. Tough stuff. That he had to grow from. Learn from. So what if he wasn't a working mage? Did they think that it was easy, keeping the grounds? Working the bar? It wasn't. Just because he did it with a smile on his face and a quick joke didn't mean that he didn't have a lot going on inside too.

Kai was more than a bit pissy when they arrived at the park, but he had nothing on Evergreen who was laying into Elfman real good because it was cold, man, it was cold, and there weren't even any clouds in the sky, and did he have the day right? Because if he drug her out there and it wasn't even going to snow-

"A man," he growled to the woman, "doesn't have to put up with this!"

"A man," she retorted, reaching up to toy with her glasses, a hollow threat that she never minded throwing down, "better learn his place."

"He knows it!"

"Good. Then he better keep it."

"Yeah, well-"

"Maybe," Marin whispered softly to the two of them, "we can just wait. And see. It's nice out tonight, anyways. Other than the cold."

And oh, it was cold for her.

Elfman had brought a blanket though, which they spread out on the ground and Marin had packed a dinner for them, just from the things in her aunt and uncle's fridge, and it wasn't a terrible night, Evergreen conceded after she drank a bit of wine and considered what it would have been like, at home.

Not much better.

Marin sat with her uncle, mostly, as he told her about a job he'd returned from recently and Kai just kept staring up at the sky, waiting for the snowfall. He was at least a bit excited by this. He liked the snow. It sucked in some ways, as finishing down at the river was out, but there were other fish, out in the ocean, that he could go catch. Erza would go with him sometimes, other times Ravan, always Marin, down to Hargeon to rent a boat. Just drift for awhile. Fish. Talk.

He was always talking.

Which Evergreen mentioned eventually, though with a bit of disinterest, as she mostly wanted her boyfriend to shut up already. She'd heard about his job five times by that point because he thought it was so interesting, but it so wasn't.

"You're quiet tonight," she said around the rim of the wineglass Marin had been sure to pack for her. "Kai."

"I'm just thinkin', I guess," he muttered as he still stared up then, at the sky. "That's all."

"Everyone's doing a lot of that these days, I guess," the woman agreed after a sip of her drink. Softly though, she did snicker some and it was the wine, probably, or maybe because Elfman had made such a big deal about it, the snowfall, but Ever did find herself adding, "Elfman and I could go for a walk, you know, around the park, if you and Marin wanted to be alone-"

"I'm actually gay, so no, I don't want that."

It felt so easy then, to say, because he'd been saying it so much recently, but that sounded like such a dorky way of saying it and he knew that Ravan would tease him later, when he relayed this, or maybe just facepalm and that was worse, but Kai would tell him anyways and Elfman and Marin were staring over at them as well then too and great.

Great.

He hardly ever felt that before. Embarrassed. He was so open about all of his quirks and insecurities, even when he was a little boy. Wore them like a badge,. But this, clearly, was going to take more getting used to.

Even if everyone knew about it anyways…

Sigh.

As he blushed though, he glanced at Evergreen to find her doing much the same and she almost looked sorry then. Maybe. He'd never seen such an emotion from the woman (or any emotion other than annoyance) and as she reached over to lay a hand over his, Kai wondered if he should be scared.

"I," she said though as she lowered her drink and looked deeply into his eyes, from behind her glasses, and he was scared of that, when he was a kid, because Marin told him she could turn anyone to stone if she wanted, "am so sorry, Kai. I didn't know."

"I-It's okay," he was quick to assure her. "Really. I just meant that-"

"I always assumed that you were…but that's my fault." Her hand left his then as she glanced up herself then, at the sky. "The same thing used to happen to me. When I was your age. Freed and I were much closer back then. I mean, we could go a day without seeing one another, unlike the two of you, but who am I to judge?" She glance down at him again as she said, "People always thought we were dating. Or that I was dating Bickslow. The Laxus assumptions didn't bother me so much, but-"

"Ever." And Elfman was over it then. "How are you gonna make this moment about you when Kai was clearly-"

"That is not what I'm doing, Elfman."

"It clearly is."

"I'm just saying," she griped, but the tone was lost about halfway through as after an eye roll at her boyfriend, she was looking to Kai once more, "that I'm sorry is all, Kai. For assuming. And you too, Marin. And don't let it go to your heads; I don't do that often."

Elfman though only got up then, to go over to the boy and roughly tussle his hair as he sat down beside him.

"Takes a real man," the muscular one assured him, "to say what you're feeling. But, actually Kai, I was wondering if you could answer a few questions about-"

"Elfman," Ever complained though Kai only grinned then, truly, really, and it felt better. More natural. With them. Than it had Erza or Mira. Because even though those two women were the biggest staples of adults he had, the two he sat beside them were pretty pivotal in his life as well.

"What? There's just some logistics that I-"

"You cannot be serious."

"A man doesn't joke, Ever!"

"Yeah, well-"

"Look." Marin spoke up finally as she was the one tilting her head back, grinning brightly as the sky above them. "It's snowing."

It was.

And as they all fell silent, Elfman's hand still on the boy's head and Marin scooting closer to her aunt, Evergreen would only admit to her own thoughts that, yes, it was the perfect night to sit out in the cold. Under the stars.

It wasn't so cold though, when Ravan arrived back in Incidio. Cooler, maybe, than it had been. Less muggy. But he didn't even stop off in the town as he made his short trek through the forest, finding with only a bit of difficulty the little cabin where, for him, things really all started to go down hill.

Approaching, he glanced in a window and found the place looked just as much of a mess as it had before, but in different ways. Some furniture was missing and a lot of the books, but the others that were left behind no longer sat in their nice stack and instead were strewn about.

Picked over.

Jumping back down off the porch, he took to looking about then, trying to recall what Haven had told him all those months ago. It was the night she left. When she and him sat up all night, at the club house. He'd asked her to finish telling him about the job, considering there was no way he ever would Locke, and she'd concluded it with the lacrima.

She thought that it could provide power or something. And that it belonged to the professor, living or dead. Because Haven was stupid like that. And so was Locke. They didn't understand death. Not like Ravan did. Much like his parents, wherever the fuck the Professor was, he in no way was about to enjoy their stupid tribute.

Still, he avoided going to retrieve it at first, fearful of family or friends being about the cabin. Or, even worse, having to run into the Dragneels when they were still in town. Then he got so caught up in all those jobs he was taking, to prove himself to Erza again, and all that had finally blown over.

Sort of.

He and Locke had come to blows, just about, a few weeks ago. They missed one another a lot, at the hall, because both were gone so much, but they ran into one another and Locke was doing that glaring stuff again and Ravan was trying to just drink and relax and listen to Kai and Marin talk about whatever dumb shit they spoke about, but there he was, glaring at him. Like he always glared at him int hose days. And it was just so annoying. So fucking annoying.

He'd promised Haven, Ravan had, that he'd leave Locke alone. And he did. Back when he thought that it mattered what Haven wanted. But it had been months and she'd just abandoned all of them, apparently. Marin told him that her parents got a letter a week or so ago, that at least told them she was safe, but didn't tell much else and they all expected it to be more months before they got anything more out of her.

Ravan wasn't mad. He wasn't angry. Like he'd thought immediately following her departure, it was the same shit he would do. If he was so heartless as to leave his brother and Erza. But he wasn't. So he didn't.

But boy, could he dream sometimes.

Locke was Haven's whatever (ex, now, probably) and that meant that Ravan was going to at least try and honor her wishes, but th emore he thought about it, the more fucked that was. Haven told Ravan to leave him alone to give him time to get over her. Well look, he had. And you know what? Locke still wasn't.

He never was going to be.

He really thought that it was Ravan's fault and that wasn't the case. At all. If he could go back...if he'd known that Haven would get kicked out…. But you don't get to live in that. Retrospect. So for Locke to still be holding shit against him when, at most, the pair were dealing with the same loss and adjustment, really didn't sit well with Ravan.

So he glared back. And made a remark, just loud enough for the other guy to hear, and then they were brawling and he just wasn't as strong as Locke. He wasn't. He could beat anyone in a sword fight, but he was shit when it came to brute strength and his magical abilities were mostly focused on his reequip space.

This had a lot to do, too, with the fact that Locke, like the other fucking slayer kids, was naturally gifted. At least in the latent magic. Ravan had much less coursing through him so what he used his fore, when he used his, how he used it, all mattered. All was calculated. Sure it grew, over the years, the well inside of him, his magic ability, but it would never be at their level. Haven and Locke's. No.

Unless…

If he got more power from an outside source…

Haven had told him that the lacrima was buried by the porch steps, not too deep, and he feared all those months later, someone else had snatched it up. They'd sure done a number on the old professor's indoors, anyways.

But as he kicked around in the dirt and even dug a bit, in places, with his hands, he eventually found it. Shiny and fit in the palm of his hand. A lacrima. She wasn't sure what it did, Haven told him, but if he took it to someone, he could either sell it or have it inspected to see what power laid inside.

He felt it though, Ravan did, as he gripped it and he couldn't be certain, but somehow he was, that he could use it to his advantage.

Sending the lacrima to his reequip space, Ravan adjusted the bandanna around his face as he looked around. He'd never wanted to see that stupid forest again and, as he left it, he vowed not to. It and it's smoke and mirrors town was something he'd not even add to his list of stories to recite, when he got to be an old loser up at the hall, doing that sort of thing like most the old men up there eventually became.

No.

He had a feeling, as he stepped back onto the train that evening for the long ride back to Magnolia, that the other three would have to agree.

* * *

**That's it, we're done, onto the next. It'll be more of a bridge again, like The in Between was, but an actual story. Just a connection between the next big thing. I'll just tighten up the outline and then we'll be all set for the next story. **


End file.
